Scene Before

“John Wick: Chapter 2” is directed by Chad Stahelski and it is the return of Keanu Reeves’s kickass character whom we were introduced to back in 2014. In this sequel to the highly appreciated action movie, “John Wick,” John must return to the criminal underworld in order to repay a debt. Throughout, it is discovered that a bounty was put on Wick. Therefore giving us another fast paced (for the most part) action thrill ride.

Before this movie came out, I was somewhat concerned for a couple reasons. One, this movie was supposed to come out in February and if you follow movies and release dates on a regular basis, you’d probably know that February is the paper shredder for movies. Seriously, just imagine a script going into a paper shredder just for how truly awful it really is. Also, I was kind of worried that this would have the “Taken” effect. What I mean is that the first “Taken” film, at least to me, was pure awesomeness. You’ve got tons of cool action, relatable characters, and that AMAZING line Liam Neeson gives. “I don’t know who you are, I don’t know what you want.” Then “Taken 2” comes out, it was nothing like the first one. Is it a complete abomination? Not really, but it’s close to that! By the way, if you’re wondering about the third Taken film, I’d say it’s better than the second one, but I think it was probably only made to complete a trilogy. Would I say we needed this John Wick sequel? I wouldn’t say we didn’t, but I wouldn’t say we did either. I would have been fine either way. Nevertheless, “John Wick: Chapter 2” was a fun experience.

For characters, you can already tell we’re kicking this segment off by talking about John Wick. John Wick is played by Keanu Reeves, and say what you want about the guy as an actor, but in this movie, here are my honest thoughts, and this can count for the previous John Wick film as well, Keanu didn’t do bad with his performance. One thing I can wholeheartedly appreciate from Keanu in this movie is how he is in action. As of right now, Keanu is up there with folks like Donnie Yen, Gal Gadot, Scarlett Johansson, and Liam Neeson as one of my favorite actors when it comes to action. I can also appreciate the pristine editing, but that appreciation can also go towards Keanu himself, because I saw him in a video off set once, he really commits to his craft and that video can support that. Like seriously, there’s not that much quick cutting or shaky cam in this movie. Everything feels fluid and natural, at times it’s like you’re playing a third person shooter. I’m gonna get back to the action a little later, but to keep a long ramble short, Keanu’s a badass.

The main antagonist of the film is played by Riccardo Scamarcio, and I must say that he did a fine job. I’m not sure if I’ll remember his character all that much, but I’d say he did alright as far as acting goes. There’s not really much else I believe is worth saying about him other than he was fine in terms of action and I can’t complain about him much.

I’m not gonna get too much into depth about the characters because I want to talk about the action sequences. I’ll get to those in a second, but I’ll get two more characters under my belt. One character I want to start off with that intrigued me was Ruby Rose’s character of Ares. I loved Rose’s performance in this movie because it was all done in sign language. I don’t know, something about it makes her come off as slightly more badass. Plus you add in the wacky subtitles and you’ve got quite a show. I mentioned Ruby Rose was pretty cool in “xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” I personally liked her better in this film.

Last but not least, let’s talk about Laurence Fishburne. If you haven’t seen “The Matrix,” by the way, if you haven’t seen “The Matrix,” you may want to rethink your life choices, Fishburne is in that movie, and so is Keanu Reeves. With that being said, I was pretty excited to see what would happen with the two of them reuniting in this movie. I wouldn’t say Fishburne’s role was entirely forced, but after seeing the role he was in, it almost felt like this reunion was somewhat forced. Not completely forced, but somewhat forced if you get my drift. Am I absolutely disappointed? Not really, but in one way or another, it was like the original cast members returning to the “Ghostbusters” reboot, although NOWHERE near as embarrassing. I am happy to see the two reunite, it’s like if sometime in the future, Daisy Ridley got her own action film and John Boyega came in to play a minor character, it would be cool for those who saw the newer “Star Wars” films. I liked Laurence’s role in the film, and I’d say that I ‘d rather have him in the film as opposed to not having in the film, but it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Now, let’s get to what I really want to talk about, the action. When it comes to the “John Wick” films, we have gotten some of the greatest action scenes I’ve ever witnessed! Remember that nightclub scene in the first film? Well, there aren’t any of those in this film, but we do get another scene with blaring techno music. It reminded me of the first movie and it had me banging my head a little and tapping my foot as well. I’m not gonna reveal much about what I’m gonna say, but there’s one thing that John Wick does in this movie that made me ask a question to myself. Which movie did this better? This movie or “The Dark Knight?” Want a hint on what I’m talking about? It has to do an object mentioned in the last movie, and also mentioned in this movie. That’s pretty much all I’ll say as far as that goes.

Another thing I want to bring up is a couple problems I have with the film, because this film is not perfect. There is one character in this movie that is talking with John Wick, she cuts herself in both her arms. After that she gets in a hot tub which is in the room, then dies shortly afterwards. What is my problem? She is CLEARLY dead, and yet John wastes a bullet on her. You’d think with all that blood coming out of her along with her head tilting to her shoulder she’d be dead in an instant, but John still had to shoot a bullet. Also, this is very minor, but at the beginning of the film, I felt like I wasn’t getting enough action. Sure, there was a huge action sequence at the start of the film, but it felt like the movie dipped too soon. Granted it does pick up the pace a little later, but still, it bothered me while watching the movie. I might forgive this in due time, but for now, this complaint still stands.

Last but not least, let’s talk about one of my favorite segments of the movie, the hall of mirrors action sequence. There’s like a few minutes of action taking place in a museum and there’s a hall of mirrors, and NOT ONCE did I see a camera, tripod, or light. THAT IS AWESOME. I actually read in a review on Business Insider that this essentially pays homage to “Enter the Dragon,” which I have not seen. Even if I did see it, this sequence would have possibly still been mind blowing to me.

“John Wick: Chapter 2” is not only an excellent action film, but a terrific sequel, and a stellar February film! Is it better than the original? I cannot decide, they are pretty close in terms of likability at this point. Although I will say, if I had to choose one film over the other to watch if I were alone on a Friday night with nothing else to do, I’d rather watch the first one. Nevertheless, “John Wick: Chapter 2” definitely deserves your money and it also doesn’t do something which “Taken 2” managed to do, which is suck. I’m gonna give “John Wick: Chapter 2” an 8/10. I can’t saw much for upcoming reviews, but it’s quite possible that sometime soon that I’m gonna go see “Fist Fight.” I’m not sure if that’ll happen, but we’ll see what the future holds. By the way, I’m not sure if I’ll see “Logan” because, don’t kill me for saying this, but I never seen a single “X-Men” film. If I were to go see “Logan,” I’d go buy the X-Men films immediately and do a marathon before it comes out. Also, I want to thank everyone who signed my “King of the Nerds” season 4 pickup petition so far. The petition has now been out for a week and it already has 31 supporters, so thanks for the support! If you want to sign the petition, or just check it out for shiggles, I’ll have the link down below. Thanks a lot guys for signing, and thanks for reading this review, stay tuned for more coming soon. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

KING OF THE NERDS SEASON 4 PICKUP PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/game-show-network-have-a-network-pick-up-king-of-the-nerds-for-season-4?source_location=minibar

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here. Today, I’m gonna tackle something I discovered like a week ago, but I completely neglected writing about until now. In case you didn’t know, I have watched all the “Divergent” films that are already out. I enjoyed the first two, but I can’t say the same for 2016’s “Allegiant.” Also, in case you weren’t aware, the franchise’s final movie installment, “Ascendent” will be coming soon, not to theaters, but to TV, which kinda disappoints me. After that, they are starting a TV series. As much as I like the franchise from a movie standpoint, I don’t think I’ll have any interest in watching the TV show. I will watch the final movie and probably put up a review of it, however, I may have less interest in it now, because the movie just lost one of their key actors. Not just any key actor, but the STARRING ROLE. That’s right, Shailene Woodley is not going to be in “Ascendent!” Not only that, but she won’t be in the TV show after the movie comes out! Personally, I’m not gonna go into the TV show right now, but I do want to focus on the film.

I first found out about this information last week on the People’s Choice website, and based on other research, I can tell this is true! On IMDb, I looked at Shailene Woodley’s list of roles she’s played, it didn’t have “Ascendant” on the list. I even searched the movie itself, she’s not on that list! I mean, WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN? I think it is SUPER RARE for an actor that had a prominent role, nonetheless the STARRING role to drop out of a relatively successful franchise at a moment like the one we are at with it now. I mean, Hugh Jackman is not going to be Wolverine anymore, but for what I know, they’re continuing the story in an effective manner giving him a good end. The only other times I can VASTLY remember something like this happening, is when Will Smith didn’t show up in “Independence Day: Resurgence” and when Terrence Howard didn’t show up in “Iron Man 2.” Although, looking back at those two examples, I can’t complain too much about them. “Independence Day: Resurgence” came out 20 years after the first one, so it was kinda late, and Terrence Howard wasn’t the starring role in the first “Iron Man” film. Sure, it was a big role, but it wasn’t as big as Robert Downey Jr’s role. This is something that is this decade’s equivalent to Val Kilmer not returning for Joel Schumacher’s “Batman & Robin,” although then again Val Kilmer dodged a bullet on that one because that movie wasn’t really that good. Also, I can’t really blame him all that much because I read that he didn’t get along with Schumacher and he was committed to another film at the time.

Going back to the post on People’s Choice I read, according to Woodley, she told Vanity Fair that she would not be participating in any future installments the franchise may be making. And as far as Woodley goes from an acting ability, I will say that she does a fine job as the character of Tris Prior. If I had one complaint with her character whatsoever it would be the hairstyle changes that are done in like every single film, it just feels so choppy. In the first film, Tris has long hair for part of the film and another part has her in a ponytail, in the second film, Tris has a pixie cut, and in the previous film, her hair is in between those two. On the bright side that somewhat makes it easier to tell which installment you’re watching. Since Woodley won’t be coming back for future Divergent installments, that means she won’t be on the TV show. If anything, I’m willing to bet part of that is because Woodley is already doing a series on HBO called “Big Little Lies.” Even if that’s not partially a reason towards Woodley’s lack of motive, I don’t even see how you would do a TV series from what I’m analyzing. Just so you know, I never read the books, but I know what happens at the end, and I know what happens to Tris, but not anyone else in the series, now for the sake of avoiding getting people angry, I won’t spit out any spoilers. Also, people reading this, if you read the books and know what happens at the end, don’t put it in the comments. You have been warned. So I will say in reality, I can understand not showing up for the TV series for a number of factors and reasons, but not showing up in “Ascendant” is somewhat troubling for the franchise.

I remember reading somewhere that Shailene had no motive to do a TV series, in fact, as I’m writing this post, it turns out, this has been outspoken by Shailene since last year! Several of the series’ prior (Get it? Prior?)  actors and actresses are returning to play their roles. For example, Miles Teller and Octavia Spencer are returning from what I see on IMDb. However, there are some, including Shailene that are not interested. Want to know something else? It looks like Theo James, the guy who plays Four in the Divergent films, another big role, won’t be returning either. So we lost TWO of the biggest cast members, with one of them being the main character… I don’t know what to say at this point.

Well, if I had to say a couple things, it would be this. I’m sorry Shailene Woodley feels the way she does, and the same goes with Theo James. Also, on an unrelated note, did this last film really have to be the second part of the “Allegiant” book? You guys are really testing us with the whole splitting book climaxes into two parts thing. But overall, this leaves me dumbfounded to a huge degree, and it makes me wonder if we’ll even have a film to begin with. I still hope this movie can be good, especially compared to “Allegiant” because that ended up with a 2/10 from me last year and it happened to be my #6 spot on my top 10 worst films of 2016. I didn’t review it, but that’s my official verdict on the movie. Now, I want to ask you, if you could recast Tris and Four for the upcoming “Ascendant” film, who would you choose for those roles? And if you want to add in reasons, go ahead! I wouldn’t be able to answer that, but I’m curious to know your answers. As I said in my last post, I have the upcoming week off from school, so I’ll have more chances to post content here. Last but not least, if you are interested in “King of the Nerds,” be sure to sign a petition I made to get the show back on the air. Stay tuned for more reviews and posts, and be sure to look at and sign the petition if you are interested (link down below). Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

KING OF THE NERDS SEASON 4 PICKUP PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/game-show-network-have-a-network-pick-up-king-of-the-nerds-for-season-4

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here, and Star Wars fans, I have some news for you today. Weeks ago it was revealed that Star Wars Episode VIII will be called “The Last Jedi.” I actually did a post on it a couple days after the announcement, and I had a question which was asked by so many followers of the franchise discovering this, that question being, what does this mean? I mentioned in that post that Jedi can be singular or plural, and based on lines from 2015’s “The Force Awakens” and several theories I had in mind, I had no idea whether they were referring to Jedi as a singular or a plural. Ladies and gentlemen, I have the answer. But before I go on any further, if you want to read the post I was just talking about, I have the link right here. I will admit I feel like I rushed on it but I still feel like what I said is somewhat effective. Oh, and just a reminder, if you haven’t seen “The Force Awakens” yet, I’d think twice before clicking the link, because there are some details that may count as spoilers.

https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/01/25/star-wars-episode-viii-has-a-new-title-spoilers-for-star-wars-episode-vii-the-force-awakens/

As I was saying, I have new evidence on what “The Last Jedi” truly means, and with that being said, I would like to thank IGN (International Gaming Network) for helping me on this. They didn’t contact me, I just found an article from them while I was on Twitter earlier today. It turns out that that the German poster for Episode VIII refers to this movie as “Die Letzten Jedi.” Based on that title, I can now confirm that “The Last Jedi” is in fact, plural. How do I know? I have a quote from the article suggesting some key information. “In German, the words for “The Last” help denote whether the “Jedi” is being used as a singular or plural. As pointed out by IGN Germany, the newly revealed German title – “Die Letzten Jedi” – uses the plural version, meaning it references multiple Jedi (if it was a single Jedi, it would be “Der Letzte Jedi”).”

While this does clear up wonders I had in the past, new wonders are coming into my mind as we speak. Even though I now know that it’s not referring to one specific person as “The Last Jedi,” which clears up my Luke and Rey theories I had before, this does bring up the wonder of how many Jedi will be part of the last Jedi. As we now know, it’s at least two. So if there are only two people as the last Jedi, I’d assume that Luke and Rey are those two people, and that would make a really interesting movie. In the “The Force Awakens” though, Han Solo in that movie gave some exposition that in between “Return of the Jedi” and “The Force Awakens,” Luke was training a new generation of Jedi. Maybe some of the people he trained are still alive, they join forces with Luke and Rey in this next film, and it turns out they’re the last Jedi somehow.

Although this may bring a bit of disappointment to me when it comes to the movie itself. I mentioned based on the title and the red font in the post I stated at the beginning of this, this movie might have a dark vibe to it. Could it still be dark? I don’t know, that’s something I’m gonna have to find out for myself. If the title happened to be singular, it’s quite possible that every other Jedi either would have given up or died in the film, therefore leaving Rey to continue the journey by herself, which would set the stage for the next film. In fact, that would be an awesome ending, it would give you the same feeling that you were given at the end of “The Empire Strikes Back,” granted everyone said they didn’t like the ending back then because they wanted more, but that’s what makes it so interesting. It leaves you hanging and wanting more, and you know you’re gonna get more. Sure, you’ll have to wait a couple years, but more is coming for you. Speaking of darkness, one thing I noticed is that “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Attack of the Clones” both have elements of darkness in those films in one way or another. If “The Last Jedi” doesn’t have any dark elements in there, the dark vibe trend is lost and I wonder if it would affect the movie for me, but I don’t know, we’ll have to see.

So, the mystery is solved on “The Last Jedi” title. By the way, there are currently no trailers for the movie yet, which despite happening to be something I’ve seen people complain about, I’m actually quite fine with it. Just a reminder, even though “The Force Awakens” revealed its first trailer back in November 2014, a year and a month before hitting theaters, last year’s spinoff, “Rogue One,” didn’t release its first trailer until April 2016, and it was actually not long after “The Force Awakens” came out on streaming services, DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital, so I figured it would be an inappropriate time to release the trailer now, since “Rogue One” is still in theaters and not on any form of home video. Once “Rogue One” hits the store shelves and streaming services, then it’s go time on the trailer. Until then, I’d say I’m perfectly OK with the posters we currently have. Also, a little note on upcoming reviews and posts, I have the next week off from school, so it is quite possible you’ll be seeing some stuff from me here. I’m probably gonna see “John Wick 2” over the weekend, and I’m not sure when I’m doing this, or if I’m doing this, but I’m hoping to see “Fist Fight,” which is a new comedy starring Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Tracy Morgan, and Jillian Bell. Also, just an alert, I actually did another new post recently having to do with “King of the Nerds,” and that contains information for a petition I made to get the show back on the air. If you have not seen “King of the Nerds,” it’s a great show, check it out on YouTube or Amazon, you likely won’t be disappointed. If you want the show back, PLEASE sign the petition, I’m hoping networks like Game Show Network and Syfy pay attention to this, EVERY SIGNATURE COUNTS. I’ll have a link to the post on the petition (TOP LINK), and a link to the petition itself (BOTTOM LINK). Be sure to stay tuned for my upcoming posts and reviews. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

KING OF THE NERDS SEASON 4 PETITION POST: https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/king-of-the-nerds-season-4-pick-up-petition-every-signature-counts/

THE “ACTUAL” PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/game-show-network-have-a-network-pick-up-king-of-the-nerds-for-season-4

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here. One month ago, I did a post on “King of the Nerds,” my favorite show of all time. I also mentioned in this recent post that the show was canceled by TBS. I mentioned in that post that I have an idea to save the show, which is to go on social media and use #SaveKOTN. I didn’t check everywhere, but I did check on Twitter and I saw NOBODY post it. Well, guess what guys? I’m not done yet. I want you to still use it if you want to, but I also have another idea, which is a petition. By the way, if you want to read that post, the link for is down below.

https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/01/18/king-of-the-nerds-4-year-anniversary-post/

These have been done in the past for the show, and they probably worked for season 3, but not for season 4. However, this is where I come in, there is a new petition to save this beloved show and I made it on change.org. Before we get anywhere else with that, I actually shared it with Curtis Armstrong. Based on the statistics, he didn’t sign the petition, which is fine, I wouldn’t force him to do it, after all, I wonder if there’s any rule against it considering he hosts the show, but that’s something to investigate later. Although, when I shared it with him, I asked if he approves of it, he said he does! From that alone, he likely wants this show back as much as I! If you want a link to the petition, it’s down below, please click on it and sign it if you want the show back.

https://www.change.org/p/game-show-network-have-a-network-pick-up-king-of-the-nerds-for-season-4?source_location=minibar

In my petition, this is being directed to two channels, GSN (Game Show Network) and Syfy. I chose those two channels based on my knowledge of certain TV channels in general plus experiences of watching them. I chose GSN mainly because they have done reality shows in the past (Skin Wars), which has also had terrific ratings much like “King of the Nerds,” not to mention they have also revived shows in the past (Minute to Win it, 1 vs. 100, Pyramid, The Newlywed Game). I also picked Syfy as another possibility because the channel itself is nerdy. Part of the game itself has to do with the channel’s name. Nerds watch Syfy all the time! Heck, the first thing to air on the program was “Star Wars!” I’ll openly admit I don’t watch the channel that much, but I’m well aware many nerds do, and it is very popular to this day! If the channel takes the show, it’ll have me stuck to it like glue. I mean, if any other channel takes the show I’ll be that way but still, Syfy, you have a grand opportunity here.

So folks, if you want to sign this because you want the show back, or because you want to see what the hoopla is about, or if you like QUALITY reality shows (something TV lacks nowadays), or heck, even just to please me or even the show’s magnificent fanbase, go ahead, click the link to change.org which was recently posted, check it out, and sign it. I have ATTEMPTED to get this show back as much and as hard as I can, not just because it is my favorite show, despite that being part of why I want it back in the first place, but because of the fond memories I had watching it, interacting with the nerds online, feeling inspired at the end, and if it’s ever possible, to achieve one of my dreams, to at least try out on the show, and if possible, be a contestant. I’m currently 17, so I’m still not old enough to try out, but when I hit the right age bracket, I’m a comin. Before I end this post I want to ask something, are there any other channels I should inform about “King of the Nerds?” Please leave a comment with the channel and I’ll take it into consideration of directing the petition towards them. As far as upcoming reviews go, I’m still hoping to see “John Wick 2” and hopefully I can make that a reality. Stay tuned for more posts and reviews. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! Today is February 14th, 2017, which means it is Valentine’s Day. If you clicked on this post thinking I have a review for the movie called “Valentine’s Day” released 7 years ago, that’s not what this post is going to be. Instead, I’m going to talk about the holiday of Valentine’s Day itself. Many people view this day as a day of love, a day in which friends, families, and couples can share their love for one another in a much more expressive fashion than any other day of the year. The whole concept behind this day is something I can understand, but it doesn’t mean I agree with it.

Let me just say right now, I’m not saying I disagree with the idea of Valentine’s Day because I’m a hateful person, I love lots of people in my life. I love my family, I love my friends, I don’t have a girlfriend or anything along those lines but if I did have one I’d more than likely love her. The reason why I disagree is nothing to do with hate, it does however, have to do with love. I bet a lot of people in life ask what love truly is. People might ask it when they’re confused, people might ask it when they are learning words as kids, and I’m even willing to bet to this day that people still listen to Haddaway asking it all the time. “What is love? / Baby don’t hurt me / Don’t hurt me no more.” My answer to that question is this: Love is something you feel inside you. You sense it whenever you are with someone, with something, at someplace, someway, and/or somehow. If you have love in any sort of way, like for example if you have a girlfriend, you should show it to her in someway as often as you can. This to me, makes the whole concept of Valentine’s Day irrelevant and at this point, just an excuse for certain businesses to make money. Look at all the restaurants that are fully booked, look at the hotels that are rented for a short period of time, look at the pharmacies and grocery stores, you can likely see lots of people buying chocolates there. Why? Because of Valentine’s Day! This sort of thing works around holidays like Christmas, but I’d say it’s dumb around Valentine’s Day. To further support my point, allow me to introduce you to Jeremy Jahns.

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you may have seen me put in a quote from him before. It was on my post titled “Cinema Seating: Does it Matter?,” Now, I’m gonna credit one of his videos, I’m not saying you have to watch it, but it has to do with what I’m gonna say. This video is on Jeremy’s view of Valentine’s Day, and after watching it, it didn’t really get me thinking, but it kind of did awhile after and it’s still on my mind today. I wouldn’t say it BRAINWASHED me despite how often I watch this guy’s videos, but it’s something I constantly have in mind. If you want to watch the video, it’s down below, it’s an informative video and I consider it to be enjoyable.

Jeremy says in this video that the 24 hours that make up Valentine’s Day is .273% of the year, which is less than 1%. By that logic, it would take over 3.663 days just to get that precise 1%. I could probably get a package delivered to me in 3.663 days for crying out loud! This video mainly focuses on relationships and Valentine’s Day, and I do consider it to be important. I remember back in 8th grade, my science teacher referred to this as “International Breakup Day,” I can’t exactly recall if I have seen this video, but if I have, chances are I may have been thinking about this a little bit. Now, I’m going to do a much more complex equation.

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, I’m willing to bet that most people would consider their partner to be their Valentine, and that is something I’m about to focus on. Let’s say you just met in December, you are now in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. All of sudden, it’s a new year, the day is January 1st, this year won’t be a leap year so there are 365 days. You also recently turned 24, just to get a good mindset here. Let’s say that you go on a date every two weeks with your partner. There are 52 weeks in a year, and you go on a date with your partner every two weeks, that is half of the weeks in a year, which is equal to 26 weeks. Now let’s factor in something else, doing something after the date with your partner. Let’s say that you rent a hotel, you go to your partner’s home and stay awhile, or you and your partner go to your place and stay awhile. You might not do this every single time, and I’m no expert in the art of dating but if you want my opinion, DON’T do this every single time, I’m pretty sure every single one of you would agree. You can probably add that in as a second date, because you and your partner can arrive somewhere, chat for a bit, and depending on the situation, sleep together. This can extend into the next day and if this is done every single date, you two could have spent what could possibly be two dates in one. Therefore, you hit 52 dates, equal to the number of weeks in a year. You two could be seeing each other, at the most, 52 days per year, and at the least, 26 days per year. Granted there are certain amounts of time put into each date but this still stands.

Another thing I want to talk about related to couples and Valentine’s Day is the importance of the day itself. I’d say there’s way more than there should be. Valentine’s Day, like any other day, is 24 hours. How many hours are there in a year?  If it’s a typical 365 day year, there are 8,760 hours. If it’s a less than typical 366 day Leap Year, just add 24 and you get 8,784 hours. The 24 hours that is Valentine’s Day is viewed as the holy grail of love. Members of couples, depending on who they are, are expected to put in as much love to each other as they can into this one day. Whether it be by purchasing flowers, chocolates, cards, tickets to a romantic movie, or whatever other s*it you buy in an attempt to impress the other member of the couple. Maybe sometimes you don’t buy things, maybe you do something you don’t traditionally do that you think or know your partner may as well want you to do. Sometimes people create stuff, it saves money that goes to Hallmark on friggin Valentine’s Day cards! Members of couples also expect to always go somewhere or do something romantic for each other. Maybe they go to a fancy restaurant, maybe they kiss each other more than usual, maybe they go see a romantic movie at the theater. By the way, this is a bit of a digression, if any girls are thinking about taking their boyfriend to go see “Fifty Shades Darker” this year, don’t. Odds are that a good number of those guys will like you less or dump you. I haven’t seen it, but I’m just saying because I’m willing to bet that would happen. Also, to the guys that had to suffer through “Twilight” (glad to say I’m not one of them), I’m sorry. The point is, you don’t have to do all of this s*it on Valentine’s Day, or as I prefer to call it, February 14th. Not only does it sometimes shrink the amount of money you have by a significant amount, but it also may even give people the mindset that if you don’t put in a certain amount of love into one little day of the year, you’re a moron.

I don’t want to turn this into a rant, but I have to say something. Girls, let’s say you are dating me, and we actually started dating sometime around May. We are just about to hit the 1 year anniversary mark, we have plans to go to a fancy restaurant. If you cancel at the last minute, I’d understand. I have NO IDEA how many people are like this, and based on knowledge I have when I say that probably less than a significant amount of people are like this. You call and tell me you can’t go, you say it is because the season finale of your favorite show is on, I’d be fine with you staying home. I wouldn’t break up with you, granted I’d be disappointed, but we have many more opportunities to see each other. I’m not saying you should be this way, I’m just saying that I’m this way. Granted, if I were dating, this is something I’d likely not call about, but I’m just giving a sense of my personality to you. With that in mind, that can probably show how little I consider Valentine’s Day to be important compared to so many other people.

All in all, while Valentine’s Day may sound interesting in some ways, it is completely overrated in others. After all, it’s not the greatest holiday for me, considering I’m single (Granted I’m only 17, but still, I’m single). Although when I see Valentine’s Day, I don’t only see a day that doesn’t really cater to me since I’m single, but I also see a holiday that is a cash-in for so many businesses and tries to make you give all your love to someone that could really be receiving that love like literally ANY OTHER DAY. You may call Christmas a big cash-in in some ways, but it is a religious holiday and it involves something that people rarely do, which is exchanging gifts, and less rarely, spending time with family and friends. A lot of people love other people, so why make a holiday on something that can be done any point in time? I don’t know, but to me it’s kinda dumb. Is it worth celebrating? Maybe, but not if it’s the big thing it has come to be. I hope you enjoyed this post and I want to know, what are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day? Do you agree with me? Do you disagree with me? Leave a comment! As far as upcoming reviews go, you can probably tell I WON’T be seeing “Fifty Shades Darker,” and it’s not just because I’m a guy, it’s also because the lack of quality many people see in it. That and I think my mother would question why I would even watch the movie. I do however intend to see “John Wick: Chapter 2,” hopefully I can get a review for that soon and hopefully you all can stay tuned for it, along with more reviews coming up aside from that one. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

“The LEGO Batman Movie” is directed by Chris McKay and stars Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, and Zach Galifianakis. This movie takes place in the same universe as 2014’s “The LEGO Movie” but this is essentially a movie revolving around the character of Batman. In this movie, Batman is challenged to fight the crime coming towards Gotham City, facing his “greatest enemy,” The Joker, while at the same time, adapt to having an adopted son, or Robin.

When I saw “The LEGO Movie” back in 2014, I thought it was one of the best animations I ever witnessed. With that being said, that, along with other things, factored into this movie being one of my most anticipated films of the year, did I get what I want out of this movie? You betcha. This movie just proves how timeless Batman is. Sure, Batman may have had some bumps along the way, just look at “Batman & Robin” released back in 1997, but I love how this movie, much like 2014’s “The LEGO Movie,” focuses less on being a commercial for LEGO and more of an actual movie. This movie, to me, more than anything, is a kid friendly Batman movie. Is it too child-friendly? I’m not saying it is, but I’m saying that with animation factor, the humor, and the family dynamic, this movie is good for kids while also being incredibly entertaining for adults.

For characters, let’s start off with the most important character, Batman/Bruce Wayne. In this movie, Will Arnett plays the caped Crusader and for a movie like this, I cannot imagine anyone else playing this Batman, maybe Adam West, but I can’t imagine anyone else doing it. Will Arnett’s Batman very much reminds me of an interpretation of Batman I saw during a Nostalgia Critic episode. If you don’t know who the Nostalgia Critic is, the Nostalgia Critic, or Doug Walker, does extended reviews for movies that many people consider to be bad, along with movies that are new releases. One of his reviews was for “Man of Steel” and he does an intro song with Superman talking about himself and Batman comes in saying how similar he is to Superman and that he is essentially more awesome, like, in an egotistic way. It really works for the character and if you watch the movie and observe the first act, that makes Batman look like someone who always has the spotlight, and in certain instances, he comes off as someone who may as well even steal the spotlight from others. While this may make him come off as mean, it works so well for the character and makes him so likable. I don’t see any sort of possibility of gullible children being influenced by his behavior, especially with the family dynamic that helps move the story along.

Michael Cera is in this movie and he plays Robin/Dick Grayson. In the beginning of the movie, Michael Cera’s interpretation of Robin seems to make Robin look extremely enthusiastic. I thought it worked for his character and I was able to buy into the chemistry between him and Batman. And yes, he’s still occasionally treated like the less experienced sidekick you may already be familiar with.

Rosario Dawson plays Barbara Gordon in this movie, in the trailer of the film, she actually said that she wanted to “team up with Batman.” If you watch the movie, Barbara’s role is actually much more complicated. She does utter the recently mentioned quote at a point, but before that utterance even happens, there’s something else that adds to the movie in terms of complexity. I won’t go into detail, but it made the movie more interesting as it progressed over a period of time.

One of my favorite parts of the movie, besides Batman of course, is the Joker, played by Zach Galifianakis. What I love about this Joker is the insanely funny “relationship” between him and Batman. If you have ever picked up a Batman comic-book, played a Batman video game, or seen a Batman movie, there is a possibility that you know who The Joker is. Batman is fighting The Joker at the beginning of the film and The Joker says to Batman to fear his greatest enemy. If you know who The Joker is, you’d probably guess by now that The Joker is likely to be Batman’s greatest enemy. Turns out that Batman doesn’t consider The Joker to be his greatest enemy and after a moment, The Joker sheds a tear down his face. All in all, this kind of makes fun of their relationship, how many instances they fought each other, and this leads to this ongoing gag between them in which The Joker says Batman “needs” The Joker to keep him satisfied, if that’s not genius, I don’t know what is.

There are so many things I liked about this movie as a whole, I’m gonna attempt to keep this simple and not go too deep. You know how in last year’s hit R rated comic book movie, “Deadpool” the opening titles was likely to be one of the best parts of the movie? In this movie, it doesn’t exactly do what “Deadpool” did, but it did its own thing with Batman narrating over the studio titles of the film (Warner Bros, DC Comics, etc). It literally set the tone for the film and it got everybody revved up, including me.

Also, this movie is HILARIOUS. This movie proves that “The LEGO Movie” was not a fluke. Everyone behind this film KNOWS what they’re doing and they obviously have the writing, story, and actions in the films they make down to a science. The whole first act, just may be a good example to show certain screenwriters how to make movies funny, mostly animations and parodies.

One thing that this movie does much like “The LEGO Movie” is utilize references and bring in characters from other movies to move the story along. Some kids might not understand some of these references, but some of them they might pick up along the way. For example, Voldemort is in this film, so the kids might pick up on that if they’re Potterheads. Other references come from “Lord of the Rings,” “The Matrix,” “King Kong,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and even more! Essentially, the writers of the movie thought it would be a good idea to put in as many Warner Bros. related characters as possible so there would be so many references across the board. Believe it or not, it doesn’t feel overbloated. It actually works so well in the climax, which kind of reminded me of a lot of other recent big budget films like “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “The Avengers” because there always has to be something crucial in the movie pointing towards the sky for some reason. It’s not a BIG complaint, but it’s getting kind of repetitive. Despite that, I’d actually say it worked in this film, because it was actually done in a very unique way. Speaking of minor complaints, I mentioned recently that Voldemort is in this movie, but there’s one thing about that which happens to bother me. And that is that the guy who played Voldemort in the “Harry Potter” films managed to play Alfred in this film, and yet he couldn’t play Voldemort. I’m not sure many people are gonna care, but it would have been fascinating. I personally don’t mind just to clarify.

Speaking of references, this movie even makes fun of DC itself. One of my favorite parts of the movie is one moment when Batman is talking with Alfred and says Batman seems to be acting odder than usual. At one point Alfred says Batman has gone through identical phases in his past, specifically, it shows Batman going backwards in time through movies and TV shows he did, which I thought was hysterical. Also, there’s a point where they make fun of the Suicide Squad. Batman said it is a really dumb idea to get a bunch of criminals together to fight crime, which had the whole theater cracking up.

In the end, I’m really glad I saw “The LEGO Batman Movie.” Let me just say, if you don’t like animations, I still think you’ll like this film. If you don’t like Batman, I still think you’ll like this film. Also, I never thought I’d say this, but this may be the first phenomenal DC Comics movie of the 2010s. Sure, “The Dark Knight Rises” was pretty cool, but it wasn’t THAT great, and you probably already know how the rest of them are if you follow popular opinion. Also, I’m not counting the first LEGO movie as a DC film mainly because it features Batman and doesn’t star him. This movie has flaws, but these flaws, put together, are the size of an ant, with that being said, “The LEGO Batman Movie” is still good enough for me to give it my highest score, a 10/10! I honestly don’t know which movie I like better, this or the first LEGO movie, we’ll have to see if I can come up with a verdict in the future, until then, I can’t wait for this movie to come out on Blu-Ray and I hope to be adding this into my collection. Speaking of movies, I have intentions to see “John Wick: Chapter 2,” it is out right now, I have no clue yet on what day I’ll go see it, but it is on my radar. Maybe next weekend I’ll go see it, I don’t know, we’ll have to see what happens. Stay tuned for more reviews. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

“Hidden Figures” is directed by Theodore Melfi, who also directed the 2014 film “St. Vincent,” stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae, and is based on a book written by Margot Lee Shetterly which is based on a true story of three African American women working at NASA who had a vital role in the early years of the US space program.

Just a fun fact, until I saw the trailer of this movie, I had no idea who these three women were, and after I saw it up until the point of going to see this film, I did no research on them. I also didn’t even know about the book this movie is based on, I still have never read it to this day. Without further ado, let’s move onto some characters.

The first character which will be brought up is Taraji P. Henson’s character of Katherine G. Johnson. I thought Henson’s performance as this character was very well done and it is the best out of every character in the movie. The establishment of this character at the very beginning of the film couldn’t have been done better. When the film starts it shows Katherine as a young child counting numbers and seeing which ones are prime and it is basically a montage of how gifted this child is. It’s a nice introduction to an interesting character. As far as resemblance goes towards the actual person, it’s pretty close. The glasses are a little different and the same goes with the hairstyle. Halfway through the film, I thought Henson gave a moment that could be shown during award shows. I’m not saying that she gave an Oscar worthy performance, but I am saying she did a spectacular job with the movie.

Octavia Spencer is in this movie as well and she plays Dorothy Vaughn. Watching her in this movie reminded me of watching Viola Davis’s character in “How to Get Away with Murder,” and I will admit that may be a terrible comparison, because I only watched part of the first episode, but it doesn’t change the fact that thought came to my mind at one point. Out of three main African American female characters in this movie, I felt like she was the most bossy, and I mean that in a compelling way, not a bad way. She also gave a feeling at the very beginning that made me realize how sophisticated and smart she was. When she was fixing the broken car in the beginning that vibe kicked in, it was like I was looking at a master at anything and everything if you will, I don’t know if anyone else got that feeling but I did somewhat.

The last main character is played by Janelle Monae and she plays Mary Jackson. I have to say out of all the women here she was certainly the prettiest, not that it means anything. With that aside, her story about attempting to get into these classes meant for all whites was extremely compelling throughout the film. It also just made me think, the amount of schooling that goes into a job like this, it must take up a good portion of your life just to get even one position at NASA. Fun fact, I actually know someone who works at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. According to their LinkedIn profile, the person I’m referring to has gone through “18 years of dreaming and dedication,” that’s literally how long it takes for someone to become an adult! My friend’s dream became a reality when I was 15 going on 16, so all of this dreaming and dedication began before I was even born! By the way, if you are curious, this person’s name is Kayla LaFrance, she’s a good friend of mine, and to stay on topic, she enjoyed “Hidden Figures.”

Now that we have the main characters out of the way, let’s move onto some other characters that intrigued me, starting with Jim Parsons’s character of Paul Stafford. This is not the first time Jim Parsons has played someone that’s related to the sciences, you may know him as Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory.” Just to be clear here, Paul Stafford was not a real person working at NASA, instead, he was essentially a stereotype put in this movie meant to represent white engineers who worked at NASA at the time which this movie took place. When you first see him in this movie, you may think of him as a random engineer going about his day at NASA, but one thing I noticed as the movie progressed, his character became more moronic. Granted, there was one scene where Paul thought he was following the rules, and I won’t completely reveal what the scene is, but it was like watching a spoiled brat when he reacted to the outcome at the end of the scene. Now that I am out of the theater and writing this, I’m realizing something about this character that I didn’t realize while watching this movie. I just recently mentioned Jim Parsons plays Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory,” in that show, he plays a theoretical physicist and he has a “Master’s degree and 2 PHds.” There is another character on the show, Howard Wolowitz, and he’s an engineer with a Master’s degree as his highest degree. There are multiple times which he is mocked by characters on the show because of this, including Sheldon himself. I find it hilarious because now, the guy who plays Sheldon is now playing the position on the show Sheldon was constantly making fun of.

*Also, little note on the image above, Kevin Costner is in this movie, but I wouldn’t say he’s worth discussing at the moment.*

Kirsten Dunst is also in this movie and she plays the character of Vivian Mitchell, much like Jim Parsons’s character, Dunst’s is also fictional. The views of this character are meant to represent the views of some white women during the 1960s and I’d say those views were delivered quite well. She acted like she didn’t talk a s*it about much of anything for a good portion of the movie and that really added a bit to her character. If you take the boss from “Office Space,” make him a woman, and made him act wicked serious, you’d probably get this character. She also reminds me of a teacher I currently have if they were a woman, not to an exact scale, but there are pieces of the puzzle that connect to bring similarities between the two people.

Last but not least, I’m not gonna get too deep into it, but this movie also has a love story attached to it. Quite a few movies, including ones based on true events have love stories in them as a subplot, sometimes it doesn’t work (I’m looking DIRECTLY AT YOU “The Final Hours”) but here, I’d say it worked. Why? It was compelling, it felt realistic, and I cared enough about the characters.

Also, let’s talk about the backbone of the story, these three women were computers, or mathematicians. Now, I knew that a computer is essentially a slang term for a mathematician that doesn’t really get used much nowadays for this association, I learned that in a vintage episode of Jeopardy in 6th grade and I still remember it. But with that aside, watching these computers, it’s just awesome that people did what they did back in the day. Nowadays, you have computer machines and calculators doing lots of work for you, but it is really interesting to see these three mathematicians doing their jobs. I can kind of connect with these folks per se because I actually do a ton of mathematics in my head, and I much prefer doing it that way. I think calculators and showing your work are kinda overrated in some circumstances. I don’t know about you but that’s how I feel.

Last but not least, before giving my verdict on the film, I’m gonna go over one of the parts of the film that is more intriguing the longer I think about it. At one point about 15-30 mins into the movie, Katherine wonders where the colored restroom is, it turns out that there isn’t any colored restroom by her in sight. When she asked Ruth (played by Kimberly Quinn) where the bathroom was, Ruth wasn’t able to answer her question. It took a bit for Katherine to find one until she finally discovered a colored restroom in the West Campus hall. Later in the movie, it is eventually blurted out that Katherine travels half a mile just to get to this restroom. This just highlights the racial issues of the 60s. While we are living in a time which segregation and certain racial issues may be becoming more common than it has been in some recent years, this is important to keep in mind and it kind of makes the movie feel like it is really necessary to have come out at a time like this.

In the end, while I had no idea behind the backbone of “Hidden Figures,” I’m definitely glad I saw it. I enjoy movies that have to do with space, and while this movie had more of a focus of the characters who weren’t going into space, it most definitely worked for the movie and it made it all the more interesting. This movie may inspire people to work in scientific fields, no matter what gender or race they may be. I’m going to give “Hidden Figures” an 8/10. I almost gave this movie a 7, I’m having a really hard time deciding whether I should give this a 7 or 8, but I feel like this movie will be remembered by quite a few people. Maybe once I see it again I might like it more the second time than I did the first, I don’t know, but now I’m feeling optimistic so I’m going with an 8. This movie was not only intriguing, but it was also true, the fact that it is true doesn’t really bump my rating any higher, but it’s just fascinating to know that this movie is true, granted there are elements of fiction in here, but I’d say they were necessary as far as storytelling goes. Stay tuned for reviews coming soon because tomorrow I’m going to see “The LEGO Batman Movie,” it just came out on Friday and I can’t wait to see this and get a review for it out to you all. This is probably one of my most anticipated films of the year and I hope it is as good as everyone says. Stay tuned for that review and stay tuned for other reviews coming up as well. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! Today I’m reviewing “The LEGO Movie.” Why am I doing this? Next Friday, February 10th to be exact, “The LEGO Batman Movie” will be out, so I figured I’d review this movie in the same universe as that upcoming movie, so I guess it kind of makes sense, right? Anyway, let’s start the review.

“The LEGO Movie” is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who also directed “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and stars Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, and Will Arnett. This movie is about a nobody named Emmett that is believed to be “the special,” which essentially makes him the most interesting person in the universe. Once one of the movie’s characters, Wildstyle, find this out from Emmett slipping this out by accident per se, he is then brought on a quest to save the universe from potential doom.

Let’s start off with the characters, starting with the main character of Emmett. Essentially, Emmett is shown at the beginning of the film trying to blend in with everyone, in one scene, it’s noticeable because he says loves “this” or “that” in front of his co-workers whenever they mention something they are going to do or something they like. I think this character was brought to life extremely well by Chris Pratt courtesy of stellar voice acting and excellent writing. By the way, the writing in this movie is one of the movie’s superior qualities and its something I’m constantly gonna bring up.

Next up is Wildstyle, she meets with Emmett at the start of the film and out of all the characters in the entire flick, I would say she wasn’t really my favorite. Well, guess what? That doesn’t say much because much like Emmett, this character was brought to life and well written. Although I do think if she wasn’t interacting with Emmett during the early chase scene in the film, that part wouldn’t be as fun and interesting as it was in the final product.

Morgan Freeman is also in this film and plays a blind wizard named Vitruvius. Once again, another well acted performance and another well written character. During the quest, this guy is essentially Emmett’s mentor. It’s not really surprising after all, a lot of movies have one for a younger character, and I will say in this movie it does work. I also will bring this up, Vitrivius also reminds me of a slightly more talkative and blind version of Gandalf. I wouldn’t say that’s a BAD thing because it works for his character, although it is a little cliche. Also not to mention Gandalf actually is in this movie, if you have not seen the movie look out for it.

Will Ferrell plays the villain in this movie, President Business, also known as Lord Business. His motivation is to glue everyone to the ground permanently so they will stop “messing with his stuff.” Are you really surprised to hear me say this is another lively and well written character? Because this guy is. Also, I’m gonna bring up one scene where he meets up with a character that goes by the name Good Cop/Bad Cop (Two characters in one essentially), he dresses up in this mega gigantic armor looking suit and makes a dramatic entrance into his office. Throughout the scene you can see this guy walking and it looks as if he is about to step on you! Also, when Will Ferrell says “Don’t be so serious.” It’s almost rather funny and scary at the same time.

There are so many funny characters in this movie, whether they be main characters or supporting characters, who’s the funniest out of all them in my opinion? That spot, goes to Batman, played by Will Arnett. Batman has some of the movie’s absolute funniest lines, Will Arnett gives a really great performance (I mean, what two things are you expecting me to say about any character in this movie?), and I’d say this character stole the show. There’s also an original song that was made for this character that plays for a few seconds during the movie, but if you watch the end credits, you can hear the whole thing there. During the credits, once you hear the words “Yes, this is real music!” The song has started, just an alert for those of you who are possibly curious to find the song.

Before we go onto anything else, I’m gonna bring up one more character, and it’s one that I already mentioned, and that character is Good Cop/Bad Cop. I really liked this character, or should I say, these characters for phenomenal voicework and excellent writing (If you’re sick of me saying this you are free to exit the review). These characters are played by the same actor, Liam Neeson, and when Liam plays Good Cop, he talks in a whimsical high pitch voice, when he’s Bad Cop, he sounds much like the badass you’d recognize from “Taken.” This character’s original and there’s one scene in the movie I won’t spoil, but it’s hilarious because Liam’s characters switch between their personalities at a pretty constant rate and based on the situation at hand, it adds to the hilarity.

I mentioned before that the voice acting in this movie is spectacular, but I’m not gonna talk about that, I just think it’s awesome. What I really want to get at is the story and writing. I love this writing for so many reasons. First off, the writers make this movie insanely funny for both kids and adults. To add to the humor, there so many references in this movie. You have Dracula, you have so many DC characters put into the film, you’ve got a mock version of Middle Earth called Middle Zealand, also you have Gandalf as well. You also have Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dumbledore from Harry Potter, Star Wars characters, Abe Lincoln, 2002 NBA all stars, and more. There’s some moments where some of the writing involves poking fun at some characters in one way or another, it’s hilarious! The jokes in this movie feel like they are going at a mile a minute and that completely works for this film! The movie essentially feels like it had “The Simpsons” style humor with much different characters and animation styles.

One of the biggest positives I can state from this movie is that while this is a movie that revolves around the product of LEGO, it never feels like a commercial for it. Sure, it may technically be one, stating which characters are already available in LEGO form, and perhaps even stating what can be built in terms of sets. In a world that has a video game based movie known as “Hitman: Agent 47” which feels more like a commercial for Audi, this is great. The fact that this movie is like this, only makes me build my hype more for “The LEGO Batman Movie.”

“The LEGO Movie” is in my opinion, one of the best animations ever made. It’s one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen, and while I have mentioned before it has incredible writing and voice acting, it most certainly doesn’t degrade the other awesome qualities this movie contains. I’m gonna give “The LEGO Movie” a 10/10. If you have not seen this movie, please see it once, you won’t regret it. Even if you don’t like animations, I think you will enjoy this movie. Anyways, I am soon planning to see “The LEGO Batman Movie” once it comes out in cinemas next week, and if you want to see some of my latest posts, I’ll post one down below, specifically my most recent one, which is my top 10 best “Family Guy” episodes. I’m debating on whether or not I should do a worst list but we’ll see the future holds. Also, one reminder about that post, it does happen to contain spoilers for certain episodes. Stay tuned for more reviews and posts. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

TOP 10 BEST “FAMILY GUY” EPISODES: https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/top-10-family-guy-episodes-spoilers/

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here, I know what you’re thinking, “What the heck is happening? This is TV, not movies! Is the apocalypse coming? I’m scared! Ahhhh!” Don’t worry, my movie reviews aren’t going away anytime soon, I just need time to watch movies. Although today I wanted to discuss my top 10 “Family Guy” episodes. “Family Guy” is one of my favorite shows of all time and it’s easy to see why, Seth MacFarlane brings a lot of innovation towards the definition of humor and how people view it today. Call it whatever you want, offensive, not your type of humor, or a ripoff of “The Simpsons,” but in the end, I don’t care, I still love this show and it’s one my favorites still on the air today. Also, just a warning, I’m not saying you should like these episodes, these are the episodes I personally like the most, if you disagree with me, might as well make your own list, different strokes for different folks ya know. So without further ado, let’s get counting down with my top 10 “Family Guy” episodes.

10: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side

One thing that “Family Guy” is well known for is its parodies on “Star Wars.” The show has done the entire original trilogy as a matter of fact, however they announced they aren’t going to do a spoof on “The Force Awakens,” which also likely means they won’t do one on any other “Star Wars” films they haven’t covered yet, but still, I’ll be fine with the way things are. Anyway, my bottom spot on the list goes to “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side.” “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side” makes fun of the “Star Wars” film “The Empire Strikes Back.” To me, some of the episode’s highlights include when Darth Vader (portrayed by Stewie) slams a mailbox with a bat labeled “NIMOY” (like “Star Trek’s” Leonard Nimoy), the moment when an AT-AT falls and acts like it has a stubbed toe (also a reference to an earlier “Family Guy” episode) and when Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker (portrayed by Chris) make fun of the twist that shocked everyone back in 1980. I’m just scratching the surface, but watching this episode is nearly as fun as watching the movie.

9: Stewie Kills Lois/Lois Kills Stewie

I’m giving this spot to two episodes because they feel like one episode split into two parts. While I will say that I do feel that “Lois Kills Stewie” is technically a better episode than “Stewie Kills Lois,” I should give “Stewie Kills Lois” credit where it’s due. “Family Guy” has built up since its first season that Stewie was an evil genius that always wanted to kill his mother and now in this episode, you can clearly see him trying. Also, in that episode, the clip when Lois and Peter are on the cruise ship and Peter repeatedly shouts “Bye!” on the ship is pure comedy gold. I think “Lois Kills Stewie” is a better episode storywise, it’s just about as funny as the previous one as well. Not to mention, that final duel between Lois and Stewie is epic to the tenth degree!

8: Wasted Talent

Up next is one of the first “Family Guy” episodes I saw, and that is “Wasted Talent.” This episode essentially is partially a spoof on “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and partially Lois trying to get a good student to play the piano in order to win a competition. The second part to me is the one I don’t really care as much about, but the “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” spoof is superb. When it comes to spoofing Willy Wonka, “Family Guy” did it’s own version of the Golden Tickets, only they had their version come out of beer, and with that in mind, the winners got to attend a tour of a brewery instead of a chocolate factory, and they even did musical numbers mocking the Oompa-Loompa song and “Pure Imagination.” By the way, remember the stubbed toe thing from “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side?” That came out of this episode.

7: The Fat Guy Strangler

Up next is “The Fat Guy Strangler.” I love this episode for so many reasons, but let’s start with the plot. First off, Lois’s brother, Patrick (played by Robert Downey Jr.), came out of an insane asylum and starts living with the Griffins, that’s pretty interesting so far, so what else can top it? Peter starts a club for fat guys. In terms of execution with that plot, it was very well done! Also, when you blend the two plots together, you get one really cool package. Plus, this episode has one of my favorite moments in “Family Guy” history, specifically, the moment when Peter goes to a checkup and FINDS OUT he’s fat. He states “OK, this is news to me.” The exchanges in dialogue before this whole thing happens is just gutbusting to say the least. Here’s some of the dialogue I’m talking about:

LOIS: So, Doctor, is Peter healthy?

DR. HARTMAN: My goodness, you’ll be dead within a month.

*Peter and Lois gasp*

DR. HARTMAN: Oh Haggard the Horrible, if you keep up that life of pillaging and dead turkey legs you’ll be dead within a month. Alright, onto you.

PETER: So whaddya think, pretty healthy huh?

DR. HARTMAN: Well let’s take a look at your physical results.

Dr. Hartman opens folder, then screams

Peter and Lois get scared for a moment

DR. HARTMAN: There’s a spider in here! Alright, here we go. Mr. Griffin you’re gonna expire in a month.

*Peter and Lois gasp*

DR. HARTMAN: (Holds up Peter’s driver’s license) This is your driver’s license, isn’t it? Now I’m afraid you’re going to die.

*Peter and Lois gasp*

DR. HARTMAN: When you watch these Dean Martin celebrity roasts!

If you think this isn’t funny, I need to sit down with you and talk.

6: Petarded

#6 is Petarded, this is all about Peter discovering that he is mentally retarded. In case you have never seen an episode of “Family Guy,” there’s something about Peter that makes him an idiot, although based on how he’s portrayed throughout the show, he’s pretty much a lovable idiot, and I think this episode shows that. How does Peter discover he’s retarded? Well, after playing Trivial Pursuit with his family, and NEARLY screwing up on a children’s version question, he’s dared to take a test that smart people are meant to take and ace, and the results came in saying he’s retarded. This leads on to a very interesting and FUNNY episode. The story leads to Peter having to abandon his wife and kids, and go to court. There, we meet “The Ghost who Never Lies.” (If you see the episode you know what I’m talking about). If you have never seen this episode, give it a watch!

5: PTV

#5 is PTV. Say what you want about censorship, say what you want about swearing, say what you want about nudity, say what you want about blocking out certain content because children are watching, but if there’s one thing you can all agree on, it’s that this episode is awesome. The plot of this episode is that there is a wardrobe malfunction during the Emmys. This got lots of attention in the news and suddenly the town of Quahog, RI starts censoring everything in sight that may appear to be naughty on screen. For example, for “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” the title slide for it says “The **** Van **** Show.” That’s cleverness at its finest! In response to this, Peter starts his own channel called PTV which was made with the intention to expose people to shows while showing them all the nudity, guns, violence, etc. Lois starts getting upset about this and calls the FCC, which actually unleashes one of the best songs ever done on the show. While Peter’s channel happens to get taken away, he says that the FCC can’t stop people from being who they are. Well, they can. Turns out they start CENSORING REAL LIFE! When Peter comes out of the shower, his balls are covered with a bar, whenever someone starts swearing one of the FCC guys blows an airhorn to censor it, when Lois and Peter try to have sex, they have to follow a guideline saying that they can’t touch, moan, or even move! When it comes to comedy and knowing the topic its focusing on, this episode is phenomenal!

4: Blue Harvest

That’s right, I think “Blue Harvest” is better than “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side!” “Blue Harvest” makes fun of the original “Star Wars” film, and out of all the “Star Wars” spoofs “Family Guy” has done, I’d say this is the best one. Much like the other spoofs, this is essentially an abridged shot for shot redo of the movie it’s based on, and it’s funny as hell! There’s so many moments to go over from this episode: Peter as Han Solo, Stewie as Darth Vader, Herbert as Obi-Wan, Peter mocking the music as it happens (which is probably much funnier if you seen “Star Wars”), and the couch gag. Holy crap… the couch gag. One of the funniest THINGS I’ve ever seen. It basically just runs on through the second half of the episode, and it starts off by making fun of moving couches or furniture through a door! It doesn’t degrade from there! This is one of the funniest spoofs I’ve ever seen and this is about as good as the original “Star Wars” film.

3: The Simpsons Guy

Coming in at #3 we have “The Simpsons Guy.” This episode is essentially a crossover between “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons.” What happens throughout is that Peter starts off the episode by publishing a comic strip in a newspaper. The locals started raving, but the raving soon turned into hate. Peter eventually made an addition to the series that was considered by a good number of people to be sexist. As a result, everyone starts to try destroying the Griffins’ home. Then they leave to somewhere, anywhere, then they suddenly end up in Springfield. They eventually run into Homer Simpson, who brings them to his home and introduces them to the Simpson family. From here on out, the episode does a really good job on showing relationships between the characters which increasingly get more hilarious the more I think about them (specifically between Bart and Stewie). The connection between Bart and Stewie I’ve witnessed throughout the episode was one of the funniest things I’ve witnessed during the entire series. You know something? That’s not even the best part, the two shows use their signature lines they’ve built during the series to their advantage. EXAMPLE: “Eat my shorts,” “What the deuce?” Also, I love the metaphor the episode provides to put the icing on the cake on how similar these two shows really are. Peter introduces the Pawtucket Patriot Ale to Homer, and he drinks it, he says “This beer tastes exactly like Duff, it’s just a lousy ripoff!” Peter responds by saying “Hey whoa whoa whoa! It’s not a ripoff of Duff! It may have been INSPIRED by Duff, but I… I like to think it goes in a different direction.” Turns out that Moe reveals that Pawtucket Pat was knocking off Duff, Moe ripped the sticker that had the Pawtucket Pat logo and it revealed the Duff logo. The two are in court, and the case for this is being judged by Fred Flintstone, who is in favor of Duff. By the way, we haven’t even gotten to my favorite part of the episode, the two are talking to each other and Homer feels bad for keeping Peter out of his job (he worked for Pawtucket Pat) and he tries to apologize. Peter replies by saying “You know, when I first met you, I thought to myself, hey! I love this guy! This is the funniest guy I’ve ever met, I’m gonna quote this guy to all my friends, I love his town, I love his family. But now, I think I speak for all of us when I say, I am over the Simpsons.” What happens from here? They fight. And I mean FIGHT. If you have ever seen one of the episodes where Peter fights a giant chicken, this fight is the Simpsons crossover equivalent to that. This fight is everything it needs to be and more. It mocks the two characters and shows, it DESTROYS the town of Springfield, it places the characters in various scenarios and settings, and it even goes nuclear. The two characters fall into nuclear waste and gain radioactive powers to fight against each other, it’s AWESOME and if you are a fan of either of these shows, seeing these two clash will bring joy to you for ten minutes. If you thought the fight between Batman and Superman from “Batman v. Superman” was cool, which I didn’t, this fight, is a million times as cool.

2: I Dream of Jesus

Coming in at #2 we have the last half-hour episode I’ll put on this list, “I Dream of Jesus.” Some of you may also refer to this as the “Surfin Bird” episode. This episode starts off in a 50’s style diner, and “Surfin Bird” by The Trashmen starts playing on the jukebox. Peter says it his “favorite song of all time.” Then, Peter starts dancing to the song, which is just funny and charming. Although it turns out that since this song was not from the 50’s, a guy who does business around the diner says that he wants to get rid of the record for the song, but Peter says he wants it. So he takes it home with him, he starts getting attached to the song and it annoys his wife when she’s trying to sleep. Then, we go to a scene where Peter is with Brian and Stewie. In what could possibly be one of the show’s top funniest moments and even the funniest moment of the episode, Peter begins to build up playing Surfin Bird and dancing to it, now Brian and Stewie are annoyed. Unlike Lois, Brian and Stewie plan to do something about this, so they plan to take the record while Peter’s asleep. Peter never finds out what happened, but he decides to go find another copy. In one of the record stores, he meets Jesus Christ. This show has done LOTS of stuff involving Jesus, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this. Peter doesn’t get the record, but he asks Jesus if he wants to come to his place for dinner, Jesus says he’s willing to do that and what happens from here is making fun of the Bible (referring to it as a storybook), and Jesus performing miracles. Later on, Jesus gets revealed to the public, he gets an interview on Jay Leno, becomes famous, goes on the MTV Movie Awards with the Pussycat Dolls, and more. This episode alone, would just be funny with the “Surfin Bird” side of the story, but adding the Jesus plot in there also adds to the humor. The real question here is, what could top this great episode?

1: And Then There Were Fewer

Ladies and gentlemen, my #1 “Family Guy” episode is “And Then There Were Fewer!” There are so many reasons why I love this episode, so where should I start? Let’s begin with the plot. Just about every memorable character on the show is invited to a large house called “Rocky Point Manor,” and when they arrive, they have no idea what they are in for. Who’s hosting this? James Woods. If you have seen other “Family Guy” episodes with James Woods, he starts off by becoming close friends with Peter, then in another he steals Peter’s identity to get revenge from being trapped in a crate by Peter to get Woods out of his sight, and in another he ruins Brian’s TV pilot. This episode is still funny if you haven’t seen any of those episodes, but the humor adds up slightly more if you have been exposed to those previous episodes. In this particular episode, Woods reveals that he married a girl named Priscilla (voiced by Ashley Tisdale), and that he recently became a born-again Christian because of her. Since he was a man of God at this point, he decided it would be right if he invited every single person he wronged to make amends. What happens here? You know what? I’m not even gonna specify, because spoiling this particular episode, while hard, isn’t worth it. So I’m just gonna talk about the things I love about this episode without spoiling a thing. First off, the tone. I know “Family Guy” is famous for it’s humor and it’s a part that just about every fan is looking to view in each and every episode, and this episode, while being very funny, tries to be serious, and it ABSOLUTELY works. This is a murder mystery, a freaking murder mystery, and instead of trying to be funny, it comes off like an intense Hollywood film. Second, and I think this is somewhat overlooked, but the music in this entire episode shouldn’t be tampered with. If “Family Guy” had an entire album dedicated to every piece of music from this episode, I’d buy it when it first comes out. Also, you know how some 3D movies are distracting and some are immersive? Well, this is the first “Family Guy” episode to air in HD, and it tries to show that off, and how is it? Well, it’s immersive! Wait, there’s more! When it comes to comedy, some of my favorite moments from the show come from this episode, such as the “Hollywood” sign gag. I also won’t go without mentioning the introduction, which is just BEAUTIFUL. The music and animation in that 2 minute intro go together like a burger and fries. The sad part though is that the episode cuts out the intro if you’re watching it on TV, you can only see it on streaming services and on DVD. To hit the point where it needs to be hit, I can’t think of one scenario when I cared more for any of the show’s characters than I did in this one episode, and that’s AMAZING. I could go on forever about this episode, but I’d be wasting precious time.

“Family Guy” is in my opinion, one of the best shows ever made, Seth MacFarlane is a comedic genius and he deserves every bit of attention he gets. What is your favorite “Family Guy” episode? Do you agree with my list? Do you have a list of your own? Leave a comment! In terms of upcoming movie reviews, I’m hoping to see “The LEGO Batman Movie” and “John Wick 2.” I don’t think I’m gonna be seeing anything this upcoming weekend but I might go see “La La Land” for a second time. Stay tuned for upcoming reviews and more posts! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here with another update! One of the biggest pieces of news I heard earlier this week, which probably made me partially forget that Donald Trump’s in the White House which is also a big piece of news, is that Star Wars Episode VIII has a new title, what is that title? That title is “The Last Jedi!”

One of the bigger questions that has been going around the Internet lately is the meaning of the title. If you are a hardcore Star Wars fan like me, you probably already know what a Jedi is. If not, well then hello my name is Jack and I love Star Wars, PLEASE WATCH IT. A Jedi is someone who has magical (or scientific according to the prequels which I don’t accept) powers and can use something called the force. The force can be useful when fighting, moving objects around, etc. It’s almost like a religion if you will. They often carry around lightsabers too, which are awesome. Now that we have that covered, let’s get to the real question, what does this mean? Well, when it comes to the word Jedi, it has been shown that the plural of Jedi is the same word as the singular version, so it is quite possible that this movie focuses on the last group of Jedi. The Jedi are very interesting group, they’ve already had a huge downfall in between “Revenge of the Sith” and “A New Hope,” and based on “The Force Awakens,” Rey may have been one of the only Jedi in existence in that film’s setting. Also, one thing to consider when it comes to this, is the character of Luke Skywalker.

Luke Skywalker may be arguably the most well known movie protagonist of all time. Anyone who grew up with Star Wars would know who he is. Also if you saw “The Force Awakens” you’d know Skywalker’s in the movie at the very end for a second and then we go to a cliffhanger. Without a doubt, I bet one of the first scenes in the next film will contain Rey and Luke in the same scene. With that being said, I’d bet Skywalker would probably get more screen time than he did in Episode VII. With THAT being said, the screen time he’ll probably get, based on my sad predictions, will probably contain his death. Luke Skywalker may die and Rey will become the last Jedi.

Also, let’s keep another thing in mind if you have seen “The Force Awakens” it states that Luke Skywalker is the last Jedi in the opening crawl. Not to mention, Supreme Leader Snoke says that the map that everyone was searching for will soon be delivered to the Resistance, leading them to “the last Jedi.” Then in the next sentence, he states “If Skywalker returns, the new Jedi will rise.” He’s referring to Luke as the last jedi, and even though she hasn’t truly discovered her power yet, he’s probably referring to Rey as the new Jedi.

Or, if there are more undiscovered Jedi that will be in the next movie, it is quite possible that the next movie will have a dark vibe and kill all of those Jedi off, either leaving just Rey, Luke and Rey, or a small amount of Jedi including Rey (possibly along with Luke) as the last Jedi. I doubt that this will happen, but it’s something I thought I’d get out of my mind.

Speaking of dark vibes, let’s take a look at the font. If you notice the “Star Wars” logo you may notice it is in red font. You know what other Star Wars movie had red font in one of its posters? “Revenge of the Sith!” You know how dark that movie was? It was the first “Star Wars” to get an MPAA rating higher than PG and it includes people getting slaughtered left and right, along with Anakin Skywalker KILLING CHILDREN. The red font may be a key symbol of darkness to come.

Let’s keep another thing in mind too, this is the second movie in a trilogy. “The Empire Strikes Back” has been rather well known for being somewhat dark, like when Luke’s hand gets cut off, or when Han gets taken by Boba Fett, or when the movie ends on a cliffhanger. Also, if you remember “Attack of the Clones,” Anakin also gets his hands cut off in that movie, maybe Rey might get a hand cut off in this movie in some dark way.

I don’t know the real meaning of this title, however it doesn’t mean that there can’t be assumptions, if anyone knows the true meaning let me know, and if you have a theory on what this title means, please leave a comment! I just hope that Luke doesn’t die in this film, it might scar me a bit. It might make the movie better, but at the same time, I don’t want it to happen. So if you like this post and you want to see more, stay tuned for my future content and reviews, also check out everything I’ve done in the past as well. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!