November Holidays

Expression

Time to try my hand at vlogging/Youtube/video stuff. Hopefully my poetry translates well into a visual medium...







Toodles!

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

If you read up on the original stories for most fairytales, they're often incredibly gruesome, gory, sexual, disturbing, or just flat out weird. You can thank the Grimm brothers, two German authors with wicked imaginations and amazing research skills, for a lot of the stories (albeit the rated G versions) you grew up hearing.

Extra crispy

The movie gets off to a wonderfully dark start, with the two small children being left in the woods for "unknown reasons" (It's part of the story, just have patience for the movie). They stumble upon, of course, a house made of candy. The witch occupying the house is less than friendly, however. The children are captured and force-fed magical candy, and then escape their bounds. After stabbing, clubbing, and roasting their first witch, the children apparently decide to make this their hobby. With their parents missing and a fairly large chip on their shoulder, the children create a whole new career path. A few credit pages and a montage later, the children have grown up, killing witches all along the way. 

When you lose the first fight, get a bigger gun.

As adults, the two travel the world hunting witches with oddly advanced weaponry (Jeremy Renner loves his ranged weapons) and a mysterious immunity to the witches magic. They happen upon a town where children are being taken in larger numbers, conveniently arriving three days before a holy day to the witches. The town's sherrif is doing an abysmal job of finding the witches, wrongly accusing women and losing men to the search. The mayor hires the siblings to investigate the abductions and to try and find the children, assuming there's anything left of them. 

It's always nice to see characters that have flaws. It makes them more relatable. It's hard to get connected to a person who always does the right thing, who always succeeds in their missions. Hansel and Gretel does a nice job of showing the two improvising on their witch hunts, making mistakes, and having exploitable weaknesses (Apparently the candy that Hansel was forced to eat as a child basically gave him magical diabetes).

With the size of that needle, and the frequency of the injection, it's a surprise he even has any thigh left

Visual: 5 out of 5
  The witches look great in their true forms, very primal and evil in appearance. There's a large amount of combat gore (especially when the troll is involved) that is well done. The environment is also quite vivid, reminding me of scenery from The Hobbit or other fantasy settings. It fits quite well for a fairytale adaptation.

Story: 5 out of 5
  Flawed heroes, a memorable story from your childhood, cool action with guns, crossbows, and magic. There's even a couple of romantic hooks and a loveable sidekick.

Overall:
  Fairytale remakes are very hit or miss, usually divided by the amount of money the movie has to use. With this being a higher funded production, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters falls into the "hit" category. Definitely worth a watch.


Toodles!

Prometheus

The Alien franchise has always been one that I have enjoyed watching (Though the newer ones have fallen far from the originals). One problem with the collection of movies is that they have not been made in chronological order. Prometheus is the prequel of the series.

After discovering a series of ancient artifacts depicting tall beings and a cluster of stars, a team of scientists locate a distant moon in the cluster that could support life. An expedition is funded and the team is sent lightyears away from earth to find out what is so important on this moon.

A very nice example of the CG effects in the movie

That head may or may not be to scale...

Upon arrival, the team discovers a structure that does not appear to be natural (God doesn't make work in straight lines). The team begins exploring and piecing together the events that occurred before their arrival. Extreme weather ends up stranding members of the expedition inside of the strange structure for several hours, and their presence inside sets something into motion.

With their discoveries creating more questions than answers, events quickly begin to spiral out of control. The history of what happened on the moon is pieced together, and the crew becomes divided on what the course of action should be.

This is what happens when you mess with the air conditioning

Visual: 4 out of 5
  The Alien franchise has always done a good job when it comes to special effects, making good use of the technology of the time. The environments are fascinating (though hard to see in the darkness most of the movie takes place in), and the CG effects are great as always. A few of the biological effects are a little cheesy, and reminiscent of the older Alien movies.

Story: 3 out of 5
  A lot is left unexplained (Prometheus 2, maybe?). It also follows pretty closely to the other Alien movies. Team arrives, team gets separated, team member does something stupid, team member gives "birth" to alien, most of the cast ends up dead. It's a little reused of a story arc at this point, but it still works.

Overall: 3 out of 5
  The effects are updated, but the story is similar to the other Alien movies. Having seen them first, this one is more of a nostalgic nod to the older movies. Still, if you liked the other movies this is just another way to watch the aliens make mincemeat out of scientists.

Toodles!

Garth Graham (garthft)

LET IT BE KNOWN. I don't only find art that has to do with League. True, that community generates a butt load of art (Good, bad, pornographic, and everything in-between), but I do also try to find artists creating other things. The internet is such a great place to discover art.

Alice in her own Wonderland (Very Suckerpunch-esk)

Garth Graham, or grathft as his screen name, makes some amazing alternate versions of Disney characters. His women are attractive in their own ways and have incredibly accurate attitudes for the characters, his men look like actual people instead of hulking muscle machines, and his non-human work is detailed and interesting to look at.

A guy with realistic hair and muscle structure. FINALLY

Beauty and her steam-powered Beast

I like to let artist's work speak for them, so this post will be fairly short. Check out Garth Graham (garthft) on Deviantart. He's got a bunch of alternate Disney pieces in addition to his other works. Definitely worth the snoop.

Toodles!

The (Short) Life of a Beard

I do apologize for my missing post last Monday. I know some of you basically only check in the read my more thoughtful posts on Mondays, so those readers kind of got shafted last week. My sincerest apologies, and thank you for coming back to read this week even though it's coming out a little late in the day. Today's post is also going to be super personal to me, like any time I talk about mental health issues. GIANT BLOCK OF TEXT INCOMING.

When people get really stressed out, there's a saying that can pop up from time to time, that they "want to tear my hair out in frustration". What a lot of people might not realize is that this is actually a legitimate reaction to stress for some. There is a disorder called Trichotillomania, which translates to a hair-pulling disorder. What does that actually mean?

When people with TTM feel stressed out, or sad, or bored (whatever their trigger is), they can have one of two reactions. One reaction is to unconsciously pull out their hairs, while the other is to be aware of the action and to feel satisfaction from the act. Commonly suffers of this disorder will pull out the hairs from the top of their head, eyebrows, or eyelashes, but any hair can suffice.

As far as self destructive disorders go, you might be thinking that pulling out a few hairs isn't that bad. At least you're not cutting yourself or breaking bones. TTM, like everything, affects different people to different degrees. Think about how long it might take someone to tweeze their eyebrows into the "perfect shape". More severe cases of TTM will literally pull every hair of their head, one at a time. Think how freaking long that would take. Some people will also bite or swallow the hairs they pull out, which can cause harmful buildups in their digestive track. The picking can also cause damage to the skin, as you can easily imagine. 

In our aesthetic society, having patchy hair or missing your eyebrows can be a terrible crime. Sufferers of TTM often feel great shame for what they do, and will try to hide it from other people, using wigs to cover up the results of their picking, or willingly shaving off any hair that remains after a session of pulling. It's terrible how our society treats people who look differently than the "norm", going so far as to shame people for it. It makes disorders like TTM such a difficult one to deal with, as the shame and emotional distress often leave people hiding their affliction, not reaching out for the help they need.

SO. Why am I writing about this? What the heck does this have to do with the life of a beard, or the random dude writing this blog?

You're clever people. You can put two and two together. I have a slight case of trichotillomania. Luckily for me, I do not pull out hairs on my head, or eyelashes. One upside of being a male is the fact that my face grows hair all the time. The downside is that I actually like having a beard. When I'm having a good day, I have a nice beard. When I'm stressed out, or really bored, or even just have the hair just a little bit too long, I absolutely destroy my beard. It turns into a really weird goatee-and-mutton-chop thing. I usually have to completely shave my beard off every few months just to reset the whole thing and hide the patches of pulled out hair. Having Style call me when I'm unconsciously pulling out hair has been helping, and I really do thank her for that. 

A Youtuber named Beckie0 has been incredibly public about having TTM. You can see a quick BBC coverage of her story below. Her Youtube page is here.

For some basic information about trichotillomania, click here.

Please people, the next time you see people that look a little different than what you expect, don't just immediately assume they chose to look that way. If they did, that's what they want, respect their choices. But keep in mind that some people are fighting things you couldn't possibly imagine. Some people suffer physically for their mental warfare. Don't be so quick to judge, and don't shame someone for their appearance. Be a better person than that. The world needs more people like that, people who are better, people who make being in public a social thing and a pleasant experience, not a gauntlet of shame and judgement.

Toodles!

Infusers // The Tea Ball

There are countless strains of tea and combinations of infusions out there. One thing that does stay fairly similar for most people is their selection of infusers with which to make their cups of awesome. The question is, which one do you use? Which kind is the best? For those who are only looking to make a single cup at a time and not break out the teapot (Why not? Call a friend and make more tea. JUST DO IT), infusers are an easy way to make the perfect amount of tea for a single  cup.

Let's start with a stereotypical infuser.

The tea ball. A lot of people new to the tea world will pick up one of these little dohickies as an afterthought once they finish their first purchasing experience. They're usually right next to the register, and only cost a few bucks. Let's be honest. You just dropped $60.00 on tea, what's another $3.00?  These little metal casings are a convenient size for most teas (oolongs and other large leaf teas may have some issues expanding to their full potential in them) and they are fairly easier to clean. Pop open the hinge, dump the used leaves into the compost, rinse, and make another cup. Easy enough right?

Well, that's when your problems arise with these buggers. They are usually advertised as stainless steel tea balls, which is partially true. The mesh is stainless steel, but a lot of the time the hinge components are made out of aluminum, which does not do well with being dunked into hot water and then left to air dry while you finish writing your next screenplay. If you've ever owned one of these little buggers (Or paid way more attention in chemistry than I did), you know that this means that the hinges will quickly rust, corroding away the important bits until the tea ball literally fall apart. Another cruddy part of this construct is that the mechanics required to open and close the hinge also creates a small space between the two halves, even when closed. For tea leaves, it's not that big of a deal. But if you prefer CTC tea over full leaf, or other herbal infusions like rooibos, a tea ball is going to leave all kinds of dregs in your cup.

GOOD THINGS

-Cheap $$

-Easy to clean

-Easy to acquire

-Keeps out most particulate from tea leaves

-Various sizes fit into more uniquely shaped teapots

BAD THINGS

-Cheaply made

-Components corrode

-Gaps allow a lot of dregs out

-Doesn't allow large leaves to expand

-Can be messy

All in all, if you're looking to buy a device to make tea, should you invest in a tea ball?

Let's ask the expert.

HE HAS SPOKEN

Toodles!

I Wrote This For You // The Dedication List

Not a whole lot to say beyond the poetry today. This one speaks well for itself, and speaks to the people who read my blog. Thank you for showing such an interest into my thoughts. I hope you find some meaning, entertainment, insight, or distraction from my ramblings.

*Reminder that I take no credit for this work. It does not belong to me, I did not make it, I make no claim to it other than the feelings it evokes in me.

Toodles!

Kindred, The Eternal Hunters

One aspect of League of Legends that I love is the fact Riot Games is constantly striving to improve the game through patch balances and new additions to the game. They recently revealed the next champion that they are releasing, a character know as Kindred. Kindred is unique among the cast of League champions, as it is comprised of two individuals; Lamb, the stoic archer, and Wolf, the savage spirit.

Riot Games

The lore for Kindred is immensely interesting, as it is revealed that they used to be one being (Most liking the physical representation of Death in this mythos). Everyone ran from this being, as no one wanted to meet with Death. This caused Death to become lonely, so he split himself in the middle. This resulted in his personality being split as well. Lamb, the physical female personality, hunts the souls of those to die and gives them a peaceful rest if they go to death willingly. She has a long memory but lacks many emotions. Wolf, the spirit-formed male personality, tracks down the souls of those who try to escape death and give them an awfully painful death. He leaves memories for Lamb, focusing on the present and the hunt at hand. He is also more playful than Lamb, but brutal.

Official Splash Art

The other aspect of League that I love is the community involved in it. The artistic talent of people all over the world comes together and creates such amazing pieces of art. Kindred's release was less than a week ago, and the internet is already exploding with art about Lamb and Wolf (The furry community has been fairly kind too, and there isn't a crap-ton of porn about them. Yet.) 

Also by Inkiness

By Inkiness

vurdeM

Lighane

Mkuchima

Gumae

Pyroan

Rin

KiyaKoda

Skyen

Rin

There is already so much more art out there about Kindred since I went and collected these few images. Feel free to Google some art, and let me know if you find some really cool interpretations of Kindred. Or send me some art you've found about your favourite champion in League.

Toodles!

Batman Begins

He just had to tick off the boss...

Yet another origin story, Batman Begins is set in a slightly different universe than other Batman series. Christopher Nolan wanted to take a step away from the super-beings present in many other story arcs, and set this series of Batman movies in a more realistic world. Batman Begins follows Bruce Wayne in his training with The League of Shadows, an organization run by Ra's Al Ghul, who are essentially ninjas who strive for balance in the world. In the grand scheme of alignments, The League falls under True Neutral, striving for balance between good and evil, law and chaos, regardless of cost.

After time in harsh physical and psychological training at The League's hands, Bruce returns to Gotham City to find it in a terrible state. Crime and corruption run rampant throughout the society and Bruce begins to take steps to becoming the Batman in order to bring the city back to order. Being a billionaire certainly has its perks when funding a one man assault on crime. Using his company's resources, Batman is born.

This is a very technical Pew-Pew gun. For... spelunking... yeah...

After taking on a crime lord in the city, Batman finds his first rival in the form of Scarecrow, a master of psycological chemicals and poisons. Scarecrow uses a toxin that induces horrible visions into it's victims, chemically induced fear. His true purpose in Gotham is later revealed, as well as his accomplices.

Someone forgot to hold their breath

Visual: 5 out of 5

  The use of fear inducing chemicals plays a fair role in this movie, and the way it is portrayed is very well done. The action sequences are amazing to watch, as should be expected from a Batman movie. Cool gadgets, ninja combat, and high budget explosions. What more could you ask for?

Story: 5 out of 5

  Seeing Batman as a true human, not someone who trained in magic, not fighting alongside Superman, his enemies using chemicals instead of sorcery or mythical powers, is refreshing. He bleeds, gains significant injuries, and is limited to (movie) physics. The story of his training with The League mixes nicely with his first battle for Gotham's soul.

Overall 5 out of 5

I'm always a sucker for Batman movies and Christopher Nolan does an amazing job of creating a Batman series set in a realistic world. If you're looking for a DC movie to watch, this particular trilogy has an amazing start with Batman Begins.

The Fat Rat

Music on Youtube that isn't buried under copyright issues can be difficult to find. Good, original music is even harder to find. Thankfully, artists like The Fat Rat exist. A german musician, The Fat Rat creates incredibly catchy electronic tracks. If you are familiar with some gamer Youtubers like SivHD, Mommie, or KP, (Don't worry, I'll be posting about all three of these content creators at some point) you have probably already heard some of this artist's music. It makes for great backgrounds to lighthearted gaming montages. 

All of The Fat Rat's tracks are this catchy. It's crazy. And they're newer stuff is all open sourced! If you want to use them in videos or whatever, you can without running through all the hoops of copyright infringement (But still credit artists for their work, their real people too). For anyone looking to become a game streamer that also wants to make Youtube clips of their streams, the music you play in the background of your footage can become an issue because of copyrights. Open source creators like The Fat Rat make your life so much easier. Not to mention the fact that the music on this channel is actually really good!

If you are looking for some cool electronic music, something free to download, or some open source music to put into your next Youtube video, give The Fat Rat's Youtube page a look.

Toodles!

Yosnakorn Sothonwong

A form of art that I always find interesting is gender-bending, or gender-swapped, characters. It is the process of taking a well established character and switching their gender (usually from cis male or cis female to the other).

Something about those chains just works better with Female Thresh

Yosnakorn Sothonwong is an artist on Deviantart that makes some absolutely amazing work. The above gender-bent Thresh is an example of his work. Anyone who has played League with me (or just has been following my blog for a while) knows that Thresh is thematically and mechanically one of my favourite champs. 

The cavalry has arrived, indeed.

I do talk a lot about League on my blog, as it's probably my favourite game. But artists do more than just League art. This is a character known as Tracer from the game Overwatch. Tracer is a spunky Australian with the technology to rewind her place in time by several seconds. She is able to reload her weapons, undo damage done to herself, get out of ambushes, or surprise enemies with a position reversal into a flank. If you're familiar with League, she seems to play very much like one of the newer champions, Ekko. Anyway, Yosnakorn does an impressive job of capturing many aspects of Overwatch and it's characters with this single image. The smirk on Tracer's face hints at her playful attitude, the light lines from her weapons imply her impressive speed as a character. There's even a subtle "time shadow" behind her, as her ability to rewind is a core mechanic for her in the game. On of the other characters, Winston, is in the background ...appreciating... Tracer's athletic build. All in all, the artwork captures the spirit of the game and it's characters well. The colouring and shading is beautiful, and it never hurts to have more art out there of a sexy character.

Yosnakorn also likes to merge different fandoms in his art. This piece combines characters from League with the Avenger's franchise (He really likes to combine League with Marvel stuff). The champs that fit each character in the movies are portrayed well in the image. Gnar is hulking out, quiet literally, as his rage-fuelled transforming ability is incredibly similar to The Hulk. Xer'ath is using his magical lightning to power an Iron Man suit. Braum grabs yet another shield to add to his repertoire as Captain America. The hammer of Thor, with it's flexibility of fighting style and powerful emissions is a logical choice for Jayce. Miss Fortune fits the body type, attitude, and weapon style of Black Widow, with Varus and his amazing bow backing her up Hawkeye-style. Lucian's stoic attitude makes him a great choice for Nick Fury (Sorry Ekko, you're a little too punk rock for that one). Master Yi takes over the role of the fast running Quicksilver, with Morgana taking the role of his sister, Scarlet Witch. If that wasn't enough, Malzahar takes flight as Vision, and Azir commands his minions as Ultron. The fact that all of these characters work so well in the art and as crossover personalities is really impressive to me.

From gender-swapping chain wardens, to the most attractive Rengar I've ever seen. Yosnakorn's art is always a pleasure to peruse. Some of his art is NSFW, but the Deviant art filters hide his more revealing works from underaged eyes. This particular character is a favourite of his, with several pieces dedicated to the female Rengar. Yosnakorn also uses the Fem-gar, as it's also known, to cross over skins within League. Here is the Battle Bunny skin that Riven uses, but adapted for Fem-gar. It really makes me wish that one: Fem-gar was a character in League, and two: That this skin happened ASAP. There is also a Heart Seeker Fem-gar, complete with heart eye patch and accents.

This artist really likes to do gender-swaps, and makes some really sexy artwork (a little too sexy for some of my more conservative readers). Give his page a look and support. Maybe one day Riot will pay him for some new skin ideas...


Toodles!

Tea Mythology and Lore

Tea has been around for a really long time. Like, thousands of years. In that time, a lot of stories have arisen in different parts of the world to explain the origin of one of the oldest drinks known to humankind. 

The first legend is about the Chinese emperor Shen Nung, who lived about 5000 years ago. It is said that a single leaf blew into a pot of water that was being boiled for the emperor. Shen Nung found that the water had improved taste and seemed to have a stimulating effect.

An artistic rendering of the event

A Buddha statue in a Japanese tea garden

India has it's own version of the origin of tea. According to the story, tea was created by the Buddha. During a pilgrimage to China, the Buddha took a vow to meditate without sleeping for nine years. After a time, he did fall asleep, and was enraged at himself when he woke up. He tore his eyelids off and threw them to the ground. The eyelids grew into a plant with leaves shaped like the torn off eyelids. The Buddha began to chew the leaves of the plant and found himself renewed. He took this, the first tea plant, with him on his pilgrimage through China. Again, this is a story, as there is no actual evidence to support that the Buddha ever even went to China.

Kuan Yin, the beautiful, multiple armed goddess

Another story about tea in China has to do with a popular tea, Ti Kuan Yin. According to the legend, Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, presented tea as a gift to a devout farmer who diligently maintained her old, run down temple. Inside the temple was an iron statue of Kuan Yin that followers could pray to. One day, the statue appeared to come to life before the farmer's eyes. He fell to his knees and the goddess spoke to him. "The key for your future is just outside this temple. Nourish it with tenderness; it will support you and yours for generations to come." When the farmer left the temple, he discovered a small, withered plant. After caring for the plant for some time, the bush grew strong with thick green leaves. Out of curiosity, the farmer dried the leaves of the plant in a stone wok. The leaves turned a similar colour to the iron statue of the goddess. The farmer infused these leaves into water and discovered that the drink was the most delicious thing he had ever drank, and dubbed it Ti

Kuan Yin, the tea of Kuan Yin.

Tea has fascinating history, mythological or factual. It's interesting to see how different regions of the world have similar stories, adapting them over the years to fit their cultural differences. One thing that's certain is that tea is has a worldwide presence, and I hope that it stays that way for many thousands of years to come.

Toodles!

I Wrote This For You // The Time It Takes to Fall

Far to often, people (including myself) forget to enjoy the things in their life as they are. We focus too much on getting to the next thing, another pastime, a deeper connection. By doing this, we miss what's right in front of us, we miss the beauty of what we already have. I've been trying to make adjustments to my life for the better over this last year, and one of the big things I've been focusing on is enjoying my life in the now. Having something might hurt later if/when it leaves, but that doesn't make the experience any less meaningful. I'll take the pain of loss over the numbness of not having anything. Loving and hurting makes life much more worthwhile than to sit in fear, to not strive for anything because you're afraid of failure. Or rejection. Or loss. Or pain. Nothing is guaranteed, positive or negative. So why not strive for happiness, and accept what happens because of it? You either remain happy, or you dust yourself off, see what you've learned, and have a new story to tell.

I'm taking pictures of the book of poetry I'm taking quotes from instead of simply typing them out. Part of poetry is the form in which it is presented, so my typing wasn't giving it the justice it deserved. There is a copy of the book that doesn't include the photos, but my copy includes them. So now Saturday quotes shall be a little larger, with direct pictures from I Wrote This For You.

*Reminder that I take no credit for this work. It does not belong to me, I did not make it, I make no claim to it other than the feelings it evokes in me.

Toodles!

Pokemon Omicron // Nuzlocke Challenge

As a true child of the 90's, I grew up in the great video game generation. Mario on a console, Kirby's battle through Dreamland. I also had the pleasure of playing through the original series of Pokemon games. Back in my day, there were only 150 Pokemon (151 and 152 got added later, and one at a time). Over the years I've played the large majority of subsequent generations of Pokemon games, the newest generations being an exception because of money and time.

Recently, a fan made emulator was shown to me, Pokemon Omicron and Zeta. It includes the first five generations of Pokemon, 649 in total, and has a completely new storyline. From what I've played so far, the story is way more upfront about being darker than in the other games (The ghost girl in X/Y not withstanding). I like the writing that the creator has put into the game, even making your rival that much more infuriating of a person. The game is still in beta, and isn't quite finished yet, but there is already over 80 hours of gameplay fully established.

They even warn you at the start that your rival is this annoying...

One of the cool features of this game is that you have the option of implementing Challenge modes into your gameplay. One such difficulty that I'm undertaking is called the Nuzlocke Challenge. It boils down to a few simply, but incredibly frustrating, modifications. One, if any of your Pokemon faint, they are considered dead and cannot be brought back by any means. Two, if you ever lose all of your Pokemon in a battle and black out, you are considered dead and the challenge mode ends. As if that wasn't difficult enough, there are personal challenges you can implement for yourself. I'm attempting to follow the additional difficulty of only being allowed to catch the first Pokemon you encounter in each area. This finitely limits the amount of Pokemon you can catch, especially since if you accidentally kill the first Pokemon you meet in the area, meaning you can't catch another one in the area.

From time to time, I shall be posting updates about how my challenge is going.

Somehow a Magby is one of the starters

Almost killed this poor bugger...

Hooray! A Flying type, good for that first gym battle against Fighting types!

So this was how my team began taking shape. Caught the first one in each area, slowly gaining levels after many trips back to the Pokemon Centre.

Stupid Starley and it's stupid crits....

And then this happened. Crits are the bane of the Nuzlocke experience. Carefully calculating how many more hits a Pokemon can take based on previous rounds, and then having a crit suddenly throw off the numbers. It's insanely annoying.

My box of shame...

Final Trainer card. It took me one day to fail.

And so one day after starting my Nuzlocke Challenge, my entire team gets knocked out and I die. I haven't even been able to form any attachments to my Pokemon because they died so quickly. Attempt 2, inbound...

Toodles!

The Grey

Some movies are just better to see them in theatres. There's something about the darkness, the huge screen, the massive subwoofers. It just makes the experience so much different than seeing a movie at home or on Netflix. The Grey is one of those movies. I saw it in theatres when it first came out and really enjoyed it. As someone who doesn't normally enjoy thriller or horror movies, the fact that I liked The Grey was an impressive feat in my mind. I guess it goes to show that Liam Neeson can make anything better.

The Grey follows the story of a man hired to protect pipeline workers in the north. He is a sharpshooter who takes down wolves that try to attack the workers. It is quickly established that the man is a seriously tortured soul, with the story almost ending in the first few minutes.

After surviving a terrible accident, a small group of workers are left to find their way back to civilization and safety. Unfortunately for them, injuries, hunger, freezing weather, are only the first of their problems. A predatory threat stalks them, and the battle between species begins.

Things done well:

  -Uses Liam Neeson quieter voice to draw you in, then scare you back with loud attacks

 -*SPOILER* Once a few of the less likeable characters get killed off, the handful that remain actually get some character development. There are some real moments shared amongst the group, where they get to act like actual people instead of terrified survivors. They share pieces of their past with each other, and you grow much more attached to the smaller group. When one of the characters succumbs to the cold instead of an attack, you can feel the emotion the remaining men experience.

Things not so great

  -Almost all of the characters are total assholes until the second half of the movie

  -There is incredibly bad language (it's a bunch of men working a crap job in the cold, what did you expect?)

  -It can get a little graphic at times, with some gruesome deaths, some emotionally difficult deaths, and if you can't handle seeing animals (even CG ones) hurt then you should be warned now.

The movie was amazing in theatres when it first came out. The massive sound system and darkness of the theatre really added to the atmosphere of the movie. Seeing it again on Netflix wasn't quite the same experience. It might have been the different setting I saw it under, or the fact that I wasn't surprised by the jump-scare attacks by the wolves

All in all, the second half of the movie was immensely more interesting and engaging than the first half. I will warn the faint of heart though. The way that some of these characters die is heartbreaking. I don't want to give anything away, but more than a few die without being attacked by wolves and those ones are honestly the most emotional deaths.

Visual: 3 out of 5

The wolves are a little fake looking, and the rest of the movie is about guys in the frozen middle of nowhere. Some of the scenic shots are beautifully done, but a lot of the movie takes place during a snowstorm. Not a lot to see there.

Story: 3 out of 5

It's hard to get far enough into the movie where you connect with the characters without getting a little bored. The jump scares are front loaded into the movie, so you get a weird combination of a thriller at the beginning and sort of a heartbreaking adventure at the end.

Overall: 3 out of 5

While the first viewing was certainly the best, with the environment of the theatre adding to the pure surprise of the wolf attacks, the second viewing at home was still not a bad time. The second half of the movie makes up for the lack of depth at the beginning, in my opinion.

Toodles!