Misc. Monday: Wreck It Ralph

Another week has just begun, folks. There are a lot of great reviews coming up this week, but for today I'm just going to share a few brief updates and a short movie review.

I Watch TV Now! Sometimes...

 

This season probably sets the record for the most shows that I've actively tried to follow at once. It used to be one. Now it's...five? I think there are five. Holy cow.

ABC's Once Upon a Time is probably the one that I look forward to the most right now. So far, I really like season 2. I appreciate the fact that it's gone in a different direction from season 1, that it hasn't started to feel formulaic. I really like most of the characters, and I like that the world feels big and it seems like they have loads of stories to tell. Is it kind of BS to have characters like Lancelot or Mulan or, God help me, Frankenstein in a fairy tale world? Yes, yes it is. But on some level, I don't care, because the show amuses me. That is all.

Supernatural is the stale bread of TV shows right now. It is no longer, and will never be as awesome as it once was...but it's still consumable. I've found season 8 at least passably entertaining, even though the overarching plot--Sam's normal relationship, Dean having been gone, blah blah--to be redundant of things hashed out in previous seasons, and just uninteresting overall, there are other things about it that I do like. I just hope they wrap up the show before it molds over completely.

Those of you who've been with me since last fall will remember that I had mixed feelings about Fox's Grimm. I still have mixed feelings. Some episodes are good, but some are far too procedural cop show for my tastes. But I like Monroe. And I'm intrigued by the royals, or whatever they are...

Speaking of procedural cop shows, masquerading as something more interesting...Beauty and The Beast is a thing now, again. The "Beast" is a guy who was given adrenaline based super soldier powers by the military, and is now in hiding. Beauty is a detective, but doesn't seem to be great at her job. It's honestly a bit of a train wreck, and boy is it cheese-tastic, but I'm going to keep watching it.

I've been watching Arrow, and it is also full of the cheese, but I do like it. It's basically a typical superhero story, but I like that sort of thing. Umm, the acting is kind of bad though.

Movie Review! Wreck It Ralph

 

Hubby and I knew we wanted to see this the minute we saw the previews. In sum, it's a story about video game characters, specifically Ralph, who is a bad guy that wants to be a good guy. So he leaves his game and goes to other games with the goal of winning a medal that will earn him respect and so forth...

What Worked In This Movie...

 

Ralph is likeable. The premise is likeable. You sympathize with his and you get emotionally invested in his desire for a less miserable life.

It was a lot of fun to see cameos from games that we know and love--Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-man, and so forth. The references were fun. I got the feeling that the writers know and feel affection for video games, and for arcades, and for the era when such things were at their peak. I loved the attention to detail.

It's just a really happy movie. It made me smile. But, I mean, it's a kids movie, it ought to make you smile.

Except this part. Homelessness is a bummer.

 What Didn't Work

 

If I had to name a disappointment, it would be the amount of time they spend in the race game "Sugar Rush", with the little girl character, Vanelope (sp??). Yeah, she's cute, but I wanted to see more, different games. She kind of takes over the plot. It's not bad, but I can't help but feel that this movie would be so much better with less of her.

Recommendation

As such things go, I would recommend this movie. That is, if you like children's/family movies, this is a good one. I like gamers in particular will get a kick out of it.

That's all for now, fellow penguins. What have you been watching lately?