Get ready for a feelgood movie! In a world where creatures with big feet live: one big-footed creature ventures outside the village and finds one with small feet, and it all spirals on from there...

It's a noticeably cliche-rich story about greed and misunderstanding, but it's presented in such a fresh and feelgood way! With an air of mystery, in a world of ice, where the scenery looks nice and the characters come off cozy in their little corner of the world. There's some really powerful songs too, and a strong message. Hate it or love it - I definitely did the latter.

I thought I'd hate the stereotypes and overused bits of comedy (even if the scenery is all new those things do stay the same), but maybe this was one of the better ways they've used them in a while now. The little bits of same-old-same-old keep it from a perfect score, but the overall delivery and characters keeps it high up anyway. Great watch. Fo icicle.

A life that's full of wonder... is a wonderful life.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

A group of troublemakers are forced to attend night school in hope that they'll pass the GED exam to finish high school.

Now this one was kinda like The Breakfast Club. Coincidences huh?

But they actually learn something in this one. It may not be as classy, but it felt genuine. It had feeling - just like the former. Whenever Kevin Hart's involved you know there's going to be some crazy too, but it's the good kind in this one. Mostly. He doesn't talk too much either. Could've done fine without the vomit and some of those other bits but hey... the rest makes me consider those bits as minor disturbances, and when it's all over you feel like you really want to grab life by the neck and take a hold of it for real. I'm doing it. Motivation. Even if you did your school and graduation.

The cast basically consists entirely of comedians, excluding Fat Joe who, oddly enough, actually comes off as one of the most entertaining ones in the bunch. And most intense. And most truthful. Props.

The chemistry good between all of them, though that does go in phases, and I like to think that all the disturbing bits were Rob Riggle. Not Hart. What can I say? Just doesn't seem like his style... props Tiffany Haddish, Bresha Webb and Romani too. And the others. They make a good crew.

There are some loose ends though. The roof, for one. How did they get out of that one? And hey, wait for the outro. ;) It's not all flawless, but it's a blast all the way through, and with a good message to boot. Not bad.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

I wrote a massive wall of text in my resolutions post, so I'll keep this one slim, as the fireworks still occasionally brighten the dusty skies of overdue dusk outside, and the first few minutes of the New Year fade away.

It's a New Year! It really is. A new anno. 2019. An' you... what you gonna do?

Myself I'm both hyped and fearful of what this one might bring; if it'll lead me the right way or put up new roadblocks on this wobbly walk of life. But I shall meet it with resolve and great expectation, as should you, as we should all with any new phase of days we get! Yes!

Not just years, but months too, and weeks, and days. Treat each one like it might be your last, and live it to the fullest... but also note that tomorrow might be your last, so don't live this one in a way that you won't appreciate that one, too. And whatever daze of days may follow.

Here's hoping for only great things in the New Era that now starts! The last one passed way too fast, but I'm (cautiously) hopeful about this one.

Happy 2019.

Don't wait, but don't haste. Don't hesitate. Don't stall, don't fall, don't all. Don't say "yes" if you stress. Don't do if you are not supposed to. But mostly, a 'can't do' won't do: think instead of what you could do. Be good too.

Always good with a reminder, right? That's a little something from 2015.

I didn't post any resolutions last year. I posted some of them after the new year kicked in, more as motivation than actual goals. Nothing in a purely resolute form. No resolutions. Really. So there'll be no aftermath here! The one thing I intended to do was to stop stalling and... have I? I'm not sure. I feel like the year's just blazed by, and I've done a lot of good things but not all the things I've wanted to do. Far from all. Maybe my one resolution now should be to start prioritizing better? It'd be a killer combo.

I did get inspired and write down a list of bad habits I hoped to rid myself of in my Happy 2018 post though, and with those I've done OK! Won't analyze them one by one, but I'm happy to see a few I've dropped within the roster, and hopeful that I'll drop a few more of those this year. Some of them I did drop earlier, but seem to have regained during the winter. Unhealthy times these dark times!

I still have my private list from 2016 with a few dues I wish to do before I reveal those for the world too, so as the time ticks away before the New Year I'm not sure what new ones I should concoct, that won't impede my potential progress with my previous ones.

I have done some progress since then, though. This and the previous year weren't entirely worthless, even though they've sometimes felt pretty hopeless with how many projects I've had on my platter, how many I never seem to finish and how many I've had to say no to because I'm still not done with my old dues.

I don't like it. I want to be faster. I want to write as efficiently as I'm writing this right now, at the brink of a new era and the end of another one, when inspiration truly makes itself known and make my fingertips race over the keyboard. It's a good feeling. But you can't force inspiration... can you?

Something I've learned during recent years is that the difference between professionals and amateurs is that professionals do. How they wake up their slumbering pit of inspiring ideas is a different knowledge, but you can't just wait for ideas to come to you, as you just can't wait for time, or opportunity - If you don't get one you have to make one.

I haven't felt like I've had opportunity to do all that I wanted to this past year, and have in fact been way more stressed than usual from time to time, but as the year is crawling to a close and my inbox looks like this, and my PM inbox at NG looks like this (well it did a couple hours ago - seems like other people want to get through all of their responses before the New Year too) I'm finally beginning to feel an inner peace sweeping in... and that really boosts my sense of efficiency. It makes me believe it might be possible to make room for routines like a pro, too.

And so, my main resolution for this year is to follow through with my old resolutions. These ones.

I know you can't see those yet. That's intentional. They're private. I'm linking to the post anyway as to make it so that I'm continually held accountable for actually accomplishing them. All of them. Also: don't tell anyone about your goals until you achieve them, right?

I am confident I can accomplish everything I set out to do back then at this point. I've accomplished a few already, though next year it'll be with a couple modifications on the remaining ones that'll all make sense whenever you're later able to view that old post:

1. At least three short walks every day if there's no time for a longer one, stretching only after exercise (at least no obligation to stretch at other times), and definitely more focus on posture improvement.

   I'll add to that: daily deep breathing and eye exercises. I have a couple quick routines there that I plan to make a habit. More info on those as the year goes!

2. I will get a new eye test, and I will also improve my sight before the year is over - or at least make an effort to do so so that I'll know if it works or not. I won't just waste away by the computer, but actively look away. I'll hone my sight. Not ignore my problems.

Regarding the 100 and 750 word challenges from resolutions of old: I'm not doing those any longer. I'm not committing myself to any amount-based writing exercises, but rather to just continually stay creative, without letting any amount-based obligations get in the way of personal progress.

There's so much self-betterment I want to focus on. Excellence is a habit.

I'll start with what I've outlined here, and in the previous resolutions posts, and anything in addition to that... that's a bonus. All other points still apply, though without the amount-based goals on the final one. You'll see what I mean. ;)

I feel like I'm getting a bit better aim in regard to what I want in life with each of these posts... even if there is one particular topic I still refuse to bring up. Maybe next year. For now, just a few minutes before the clock strikes twelve and the fireworks start popping outside, I'm happy with the resolve I have and a select few resolutions on my tray. Happy New Year in a bit, and may it be way better than this one was!

It's been good but: just not enough.

Massive end-of-the-year dose of music, new and old? :) Here goes...

(more…)

What happened to spider-sense? What happened to the darkness? What happened to the old and corny? The new dude's just not like the old one. He's more like a sidekick, and it feels almost like they're trying to make a new Deadpool out of every one of these guys now. Too much comedy at the expense of themselves.

I do appreciate the Stan Lee cameo (as always), the Captain America PSAs, and the Tony Stark moments were cool too, but it takes all the way until the end of the movie before you really start getting into the Spider-Man vibe. For the bigger part of the movie... it's too much.

And they're getting lazy with the CGI as well. Especially in the early stages of swinging through the city it looked more like game animation than real CGI. Like something they might've borrowed from the animated counterpart (though that one was totally different - in a good way).

This wasn't all it could have been! This really wasn't the reboot I was hoping for. It might've been wrong to boot the same story the same way for the fourth time in a row if they aren't planning to take the same route with the sequels, but this just felt like the wrong way to jump into the story. And what happened to the romance...?

Overall this was a great movie, just not the Spider-Man I'm used to, and the lazy CGI is a pretty noticeable production flaw. I liked it but... I'm a little disappointed too. Plot-wise it's the usual plus a little Iron Man.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle