South Park - The "Black Friday" Arc

Today is a review/resume of the most recent "arc" in the series South Park. The Black Friday Arc. 

I call it an arc because it is 3 episodes following the same plot. For those familiar with the show, very rarely the story continues to another episode. The first time it happened was in the first season finale "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut" continuing to "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty slut" leaving the cliffhanger on who was Eric Cartman's dad from one to another. One of the best episodes are in Season 11 when we have the "Imaginationland" arc with 3 episodes, Imaginationland 1, 2 and 3. For those who watched these episodes, you probably never thought that any other episode, or string of episodes, would beat it. Until now.

Season 17 episode 7 "Black Friday". This episode starts the arc, Black Friday is coming (pun not intended) and the children conclude that they must join forces to buy 80% off next gen consoles. But they must face a dire choice: PS4 or Xbox One? That would determine who would be playing with who, and if they could lend games to each other. During a make believe in the genre of Game of Thrones they turn into two factions, one for each console. Then like the show that is the web of conspiracy and betrayal ensues. Butters is a newcomer to the show and he is always perturbed about the number of penises in the show. Cartman is most of the time seen in a garden talking about betrayals with another character, while an old man always shout to stop talking abut betrayal in his garden. This becomes one of the most funny running gags in the arc.

In meanwhile Randy is doing a part-time job at the mall security, using the excuse for some holiday cash, but his plan is to be inside the mall before the doors open to gain some advantage. As the time to open doors becomes near, the leader of the security is killed by a custommer revolted about lining for Black Friday, and so Randy becomes the captain of the mall security, and decides to stand guard for his pride, instead for a big ass flat TV.

Every book of A Song of Ice and Fire

The news of a console war in colorado reach the Sony CEO, who makes a special bundle for selling the PS4, the "Brack Friday Bunduru", which includes four game controllers, a map of Japan, a $100 rebate, and the ability to pre-order Metal Gear Solid V. The episode ends with Princess McCormick, Kenny plays a princess in the make believe world, who was in the Xbox One faction turning to the PS4 one, catching the viewers off guard with the cliffhanger, in a Game-of-Thrones-esque way.

Then follows the "A Song of Ass and Fire" episode, more and more customers make line at the mall, as Randy stands as Captain of Security. Cartman refuses to accept Kenny as a princess and enters contact with Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer, who refuses to take part in the console wars, and wishes a more peacefull way to sell the consoles. This plan quickly falls into ground as Bill Gates murders him and takes control of operations. He allies with Channel 9, as a bloody black friday would make great views for the channel. One of the reporters betrays Bill Gates and informs the Sony CEO of the plan, so it would make even more blood, and a more great piece of news. The Sony CEO then goes to Kenny, and give him a brooch, making him a Japanese Princess.

 No one saw that coming. 

In the meanwhile Cartman sends Butters to George R.R. Martin house to know future plots, as a way to defeat Kenny. Eventually they met, but Martin only talks about penises. Black Friday is also delayed one week, and has 96% off for the first 100 customers, makin the crowd outside the mall grow even more.

I recall more boobs, must be selective memory.

The final episode is called "Tities and Dragons" and is the conclusion of the arc. Cartman bow to Kenny, as he can't win the wars. He comes with the plan to rent the adjacent Red Robin for a wedding, as it is linked to the mall. This is just a plan to betray the Ps4 faction and lock them inside the Red Robin. Stan comes to know of Cartman's plan while in a walk with Cartman on the old man's garden, and the old man shouts Cartman's plot as revenge. Cartman gets Stan grounded so he can't attend the wedding. Kyle talks to Stan, and Stan breaks they're friendship. Eventually Kyle tells everyone of the PS4 faction and the betrayal is stopped. Then Bill Gates and Sony's CEO appear and get into a fist fight, with Gates winning, and as such, he wins the console wars.

During the wedding, the opening cereminy of the mall is made by George R.R. Martin who starts to talk about his penis, eventually showing it, instead of opening the doors. This makes a custommer slice his pennis off. The raging mob enters the mall as Randy's forces try to protect the mall.

Maybe it would make him write faster

At the aftermath, there's a sea of blood in the mall, as the kids go and get their Xboxes. In the end the kids can't forget about the image of Sony's CEO head being bashed into a wall and think "why do we need videogames? We can use our imagination" as he grabs a stick, an ad for the upcoming game South Park: The Stick of Truth appears, ending the story.

These are probably my favourite episodes of South Park, as I read all the A Song of Ice and Fire Books, and watched the 2 first seasons of the show. The betraying, Kenny as Daenerys like character, the alliances, the Security Mall as the Night's Watch, The Red Robin Wedding...there's so much references and puns about that universe that is hard not to like it if you know George Martin's series. In my opinion even if you don't watch South Park, but you are a fan of Game of Thrones, you should watch it. Like now, or now. Now is probably best.

Art - 4/5 - The usual art of South Park, but during the third episode  it's also used shoujo manga like art, wich made me laugh hard.

Soundtrack 5/5 - It is used music like Game of Thrones during the arc, japanese mahou-shojo like themes, and of course the weiner version of Game of Thrones opening sequence.

Excitement - 4/5 - The episodes are good. Between the second and third it took 2 weeks and it seemed like years, as the expectation was high.

Plot 5/5 - I don't know how but South Park never disapoints in plot, and joining Game of Throne's web of betrayal and deceit, made it even better.

Black Friday Arc gets a 18/20 bunduru.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day of The Doctor

"Great man are forged in fire... it's the privilege of lesser man to light the flame...whatever the cost." - The War Doctor.

Today is reviewed the most anticipated episode of this series. Today I have the previlege of reviewing the Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary Special: The Day of The Doctor.

November 23rd 1963, one of the best shows in television history begins: Doctor Who. The most famous police box appears for the first time in the episode titled "An Unearthly Child" with William Hartnell as the very first Doctor. 50 years and 11 Doctors after, we get this special episode, featuring David Tennant as the 10th Doctor, Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor and John Hurt as the War Doctor. David first appeared in the Christmas invasion episode after Eccleston leaving the show, and quickly became a fan favourite, among the best Doctors to travel in the TARDIS. When it was announced that Matt would be his replacement, and that the 10th incarnation would regenerate in the episode "The End of Time", everyone was sceptic as would someone fill the void left by David. After 3 seasons the answer is: yes, and well filled it was, as Matt's performance was brilliant. It's the second appearance for John Hurt as he appeared in Series 7 finale, "The Name of the Doctor" just for a brief moment in the end, so it would be the first time he would be an incarnation of Britain's most famous time traveller. There was a lot of expectations about his role, as he would be the filling gap between Paul Mcgann's 8th Doctor and Eccleston's 9th, but maybe I'm getting ahead myself. Let's talk about the story.

From left to righ: Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt

The plot starts with UNIT taking the TARDIS as they had orders from Queen Elizabeth I for him. They show him a painting of Gallifrey during the time war, a special one that's actually a fragment of time in a frame. Then we switch to Gallifrey during the Time War against the Daleks and the War Doctor appears, and steals the most destructive weapon of the Time Lords. A weapon that the interface is sentient, and can judge even it's user. When the War Doctor activates it, it gains the form of Rose Tyler, aka Bad Wolf, as it finds the most suitable form for presenting herself for the Doctor, and offers to show him what will be his future and opens a time rift, and a fez falls from it.

Billie Piper as the interface

We switch again to the 11th as he reads the letter Elizabeth wrote to him and then a painting of her and the 10th is shown to him. We jump to the past, as 10th is on a stroll with Queen Elizabeth I. Then it's shown that the Zygons want to replace themselves with Elizabeth I, and a time vortex appears on front of the 10th and also a fez falls out from it, and eventually the 11th also jumps to it, and eventually the War Doctor, and the 3 are together and the rest of the story develops, showing the War Doctor how his actions will save millions of innocents in the future, and that his own future is safe. As the War Doctor is about to destroy Gallifrey and Skaro, the other two Doctors appear and will aid him to use the weapon, as this time he doesn't have to be alone to do it.

Then they come to a conclusion: this time there's three of them and they come up with another solution: trapping the entire planet on a pocket universe, like the paintings shown before, and the Daleks would self destoy in the cross-fire. As they go to Gallifrey, all his incarnations show up and they successfully put the planet on pocket space. As Galiffrey is safe the War Doctor tells his future selfs that he feels as he is the Doctor again, even if he will not remember it, as the timelines will sync and he will forget the events. As he goes away in his TARDIS, the War Doctor starts to regenerate into the 9th. The tenth also says his goodbyes, and the 11th is left alone in the museum, to talk to the curator. Then Tom Baker makes his appearence, and we get a very confusing dialogue with the 11th, where we are left wondering if it really is the 4th Doctor, or jut a simple curator. Quoting him: 

"Who knows? Who-nose?"

THE GOOD POINTS:

1.  David and Matt's performance is just brilliant, their Doctors complement each other so well we find ourselves wanting more and more.
2. David wearing a Fez.
3. John Hurt performance is astonishing, as he portrays an old and tired Doctor, that feels lost about the future. He also get so well with Matt's and David's performance and is such an interesting version of the Doctor that I felt sad that he regenerates at the end. He could have stayed a bit more.
4. Matt wearing a fez.
5. Finnaly the unveilling of the time war and it's conclusion, as it has been eluded us since 2005. Like the truth, Gallifrey is out there.
6. The comedy is well made, and as in the series, the Doctor is just the Doctor, independently of wich incarnation it is.
7. It gives a sense of direction for the series, as I found series 7 without an objective in the end.
8. David high-fiving the tardis

THE NOT SO GOOD POINTS:

1. 76 minutes lenght only.
2. Clara was most of the time a stand in.
3. John Hurt didn't wear a fez.
4. Billie Piper as the interface. I can find a the logic behind the interface chosing Rose Tyler as the guide for the lost War Doctor, as she was the one who calmed the anger that the 9th had, and turned him into the more merry 10th incarnation. I liked it, but it felt a bit forced.
5. 76 minutes lenght only
6. The Zygons had more screen time than the Daleks. The time war was between the Time Lords and the Daleks, and the Zygons get more air time than both.
7. The bits of the 9th Doctor were archive footage. It wouldn't hurt to put it him in it even if it was just for 3 seconds.
8. 76 minutes lenght only
9. Capaldi's cameo felt forced too, but I personally liked it.
10. Tom Baker at the end felt more forcefull than Billie and Capaldi put together. The scarf on the scientist girl would suffice.
11. Again, why didn't John Hurt wear a fez? WHY??

The judgement:

Plot - 4/5 - It was a great episode, truly beffiting the 50th anniversary.

Visual - 5/5 - The monster characterization continues excellent, and in this special the effects were a lot better than in the series. It was brilliant.

Soundtrack - 5/5 - the same of the series, so it is the excellent themes we are used to.

Performances 4/5 - The 3 Doctors steal the show completely, and leave few for others to shine. It was expected as it was the 50th but I would had liked more from other characters such as Clara.

Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor gets a Timey-Wimey Wobbly-Bobbly 18/20.

Also this:

Eastbound & Down (Season 1)

"When my ass was 19 years old, I changed the face of professional baseball. I was handed the keys to the kingdom, multi-million dollar deals, endorsements. Everyone wanted a piece of my shit. Just a man with a mind for victory and an arm like a fucking cannon. But sometimes when you bring the thunder, you get lost in the storm. But a true champion, face to face with his darkest hour, will do whatever it takes to rise above. A man fights, and fights, and then fights some more. Because surrender is death, and death is for pussies." - Kenny Powers (opening monologue)

Yes I'm not writing a review of an anime today. Today I write about HBO's comedy Eastbound & Down. I've just finished the first season a few moments back and thought of writing about it.

The series is written by Jody Hill, Ben Best and Danny Mcbride (the last two enter the show as actors) and produced by Will Ferrel's company. The first season has 6 half-hour episodes, making it a short one.

This show is about Kenny Powers, portrayed by Danny McBride (This is the End, 30 minutes or less). At age of 19 he became a superstar in the baseball world, but eventually things got a bad turn and hence became the trip of drugs, prostitution, gambling and eventually steroids. The series starts as Kenny returns to his hometown as a sub P.E. teacher and crashing at his older brother's, Dustin Powers (portrayed by John Hawkes) house. Despite being broke, Kenny retains the douchebagness and super star attitude that got him out of the baseball world and the season revolves around his attempts of coming back to the major league and trying to get his high-school lover April Buchanon (portrayed by Katy Mixon) back.

The important characters of the show are the following:

Kenny Powers - As said before Kenny was a superstar baseball player. Eventually his attitude and use of steroids got him out of the major league. He comes back to his hometown to teach P.E. He is obnouxious, rude and is always swearing and most of the time is on drugs. Always gets on ridiculous situations because of his plans. Despite being most of a comedy character Kenny also has some moments when we see the pain his life gives him, giving it a serious tone now and then.

April Buchanon - Kenny's high-school sweetheart and also a teacher on the same school as Kenny. She shows despise for Kenny, avoiding him and criticising him a lot of times, but inside she still has some feelings for him.

Terrence Cutler (portrayed by Andrew Daily) - The Principal of the school and also April's fiancee. He's a fan of Kenny and has positive atitude, the same atitude that lets kenny do whatever he wants in the school. As he is April's fiancee, is always the target of Kenny's sarcasm.

Steven "Stevie" Janowski (portrayed by Steve Little) - the greatest fan of Kenny, capable of doing almost everything from him. He is a nice person, and his personality gets very influenced by Kenny. He functions as the sidekick for Kenny's ambitions.

The show has a look as if it got taken from a series B movie. The plot is not a great one, it's very simple and short, which reflected on the critics it received. The characters are vulgar and aren't the best good looking but, despite that, it gives the tone necessary for the kind of comedy that they're trying to pull off. It has some clever humour and doesn't have easy jokes handed to the audience, in a way it's like most of the works of it's producer Will Ferrel. It even has him as a recurring character, Ashley Schaeffer a BMW stand owner, and he's brilliant on the role. It also has the guest apperances of Adam Scott (Party Down, Parks and Recreation) and Craig Robinson (Pineapple Express, Hot Tub Time Machine, This is the End). Craig's character along with Danny's and Will's have the best moment in the season.

Just genious.

It's a show that has some great moments with the jokes and situations, but the character that stands out the most is Kenny, giving the others a feel that they're all irrelevant. The first season got average ratings, but the following ones got a lot higher so I'm curious how it will develop. It's fourth season started this year and is it's last, so it's a short comedy series to follow, with each season having 6 to 8 episodes each.

Plot - 3/5 - The story doesn't get much development, feeling like an introduction for what's to come in the future. It has some great moments and great quotes, but it could have been better.

Visual - 4/5 - The visual on the show fits well in the comedy, as it looks kinda of bad, giving the crappy-like set for Kennys life. It's hard to describe, but if you watch it, you'll get it.

Sound - 2/5 - Aside from the opening theme, Going Down by Freddie King, it uses almost no soundtrack. Kenny most of the time listens to his own audio book "I'm fucking in, you're fucking out" making use of monologues instead of audio to give tones for the scenes.

Perfomances - 3/5 - Danny and Steve shine on their roles but the rest of the characters don't give opportunites to shine, as they are bland. The only characters that also stand out are Will Ferrel's and Craig Robinson's and they only appear two times in the season.

Resuming, the first season hasn't much to give, feeling like an intro, but I have hope for the next ones.

Eastbound & Down season 1 gets a 11/20 at the end of the 9th inning.

Futurama

During the 90’s, The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening, envisioned a series that was truly visionary, Futurama. 

The plot is fairly simple. A young pizza delivery boy named Fry gets cryogenically frozen during New Year’s Eve of 1999 and wakes up in the year 2999 in what is now New New York. After realizing that everything and everyone he knew were now gone he sets himself to build a new life only to find that things are not how they used to be. The pilot then develops to introduce the other main characters, as soon as he gets out the cryo-chamber, Fry is submitted to a series of tests to determine which job is more appropriate for him only to find that he has to be a delivery boy (again) because “You gotta do what you gotta do” and those tests were performed by his future co-worker Leela who tries to implant him a career chip which everyone in the future has. Because Fry does not want to be a delivery boy again he manages to flee without getting the career chip and tries to find his only living relative, his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great nephew (if you do not want to count, it’s 30), Professor Farnsworth and the best way to find someone is, as in the Terminator movie, the phone book. In line in what he thinks to be a phone booth he meets Bender, a bending unit robot with an addiction for blackjack and hookers that uses alcohol as fuel and his future co-worker, but the phone booth turns out to be a suicide booth. Again, Fry manages to escape, with the help of Bender, to the underground ruins of Old New York. Leela finally manages to catch up with Fry and, after some talk, Leela sympathizes with Fry because she too hates her job and takes her career chip off. The three track down Professor Farnsworth, owner of the intergalactic delivery company Planet Express and with the help of the professor they escape the police in the company space ship at the moment the New Year’s fireworks start. Farnsworth then hires the three as the new crew for his company. Fry asks what his job his and finds that he will be the…delivery boy and the pilot ends with Fry cheering his new job. And with this "kick" the show started...

The series consists in episodic adventures that do not need much information from previous episodes to make sense and, despite that, Futurama is one of the best animated sitcoms ever if not even the best! It all depends on personal tastes. For me, it is the best because I really like Science Fiction and Futurama has all kind of references (from Dungeons and Dragons to Star Trek and Adventure Time, anything goes) during the episodes while being funny which most sitcoms nowadays aren’t. The most important part of the series are the characters, they alone would make the show worth it even if the plot didn’t make any sense but it does, apart from the constant plot holes and loops that, somehow, seem to be coherent. Episode after episode I kept craving for more and more. It has the perfect mix between the clever/more indirect content and the more silly and easy-going content.

The show aired in Fox from 1999 to 2003 for 4 seasons but due to the low ratings and constant changes in schedule the show was cancelled. Perhaps one of the problems for FOX was that they’ve expected a lot more audience from something that has Matt Groening’s name and the obvious collage to The Simpsons. The setting might have kept away a lot of people, because I know some who are like that. If they don’t like Sci-Fi, they don’t even give it a try. Back then The Simpsons had over 12 million viewers per episode while Futurama had less than 5 million.

In 2005, Comedy Central acquired the rights to the show and announced that four straight-to-DVD films would be produced. The last movie, Into the Wild Green Yonder, had something that could be called an ending. For those who saw it, the show was over...until 2009. Comedy Central announced that year that a new season of 26 episodes had been picked up for the show. When it aired in 2010, Comedy Central had its highest-rated night of the year. The unwanted Fox show was back and better than ever. Unfortunately it wouldn’t last long as the show would end again in September 2013. Even though it has been announced that an upcoming episode of The Simpsons will be a special crossover with Futurama, no more news about the continuation of the show has been issued.

Visually it’s much like The Simpsons but less yellow. The whole vision of the future is focused on a satirical version of the present with the main goal to be funny. It’s not groundbreaking but why change what it’s already good? They’ve changed what had to be changed and it looks very good, especially after season 5 because the production became high-definition and in widescreen format. I still prefer this style over the CGI and 3D modelling that every movie nowadays seems to use. It was nice in the beginning but that does not mean it has to be ALWAYS like that…I blame Pixar for that.

The voice acting is awesome. So good that it is difficult to imagine any character to be different since the first time they appear unlike Family Guy for instance that had one main character voice actor changed and no one minded. The casting was spot on because some characters really need that personality that the actor give them by their voices. If you’ve seen the show you will know that, for instance, Bender, Fry, Farnsworth and Nixon could not have been any other way. And there are many celebrities that appear as themselves on the show due to the use of jar-preserved heads on the show.

Plot - 4/5

The show itself does not have any main story but still there is something that’s bigger than just one episode like the background of the characters or the love story of Fry. And talking about Fry and his background, beware…when that happens you are bound to cry.

Visual - 4/5

Colorful and a lot of care over details. The show grabs your attention since the opening until the end with its New New York and unknown planets.

Sound - 4/5

The opening theme sticks in your head instantly. There are not many musics along the show but, from time to time, some “classics” appear like Katrina and the Waves’s “Walking on Sunshine” or even the Beastie Boys who’ve made a version of the opening theme.

Performances - 5/5

Futurama voice cast shines like no other over its brilliance and professionalism. As iconic as The Simpsons or South Park casts. 

Final Score - 17/20