YOU CAN DO IT!

I'll keep that in mind. I had forgotten about it too until I saw reviews come out for it . I know! October is almost here! I think I'm going to dress up at school on Halloween since it's a Monday. My school has no Halloween spirit so I'll be one of the only people dressed up but I don't care . I made a Squirrel Girl costume for a comicon earlier this year so I'll probably use that. Maybe I'll save the Exorcist and catching up on American story for later in October. I'm really enjoying the Office! Some of the characters have changed a bit, but for the most part are the same. Jim and Dwight's pranking relationship is one of my favourite things about the show. But I don't want to experience that movie again :'(...

So far I like the additions, but we'll see how it actually works in game. I wonder how the feeding and caring of pokemon will work. Pokemon showdown is a lot of fun! I initially played it to test out different teams and EV's before spending the time in game to catch and train all the pokemon to make my perfect team, but I ended up getting stuck there . Thanks to showdown I now know that Wobbuffet is actually one of the most overpowered pokemon out there... and I always thought he was one of the weakest. That would be fun! I better start putting a team together. That's too bad about Resident Evil. I got Doom 3 finally, and I'm happy to say it's more like original Doom. Not as much psychological horror/dark rooms as Doom 3 but awesome overall.

I thought you were talking about Black Mirror but now that you mention it Atlanta makes a lot more sense . I still have yet to watch it! Been stuck with school work

Darn, I'm sorry to hear that. Wish you enjoyed it more. I wonder what I'll think about it now. Have you watched the Exorcist? I heard decent reviews of the show, but like usual have yet to watch it. I still need to see the new American Horror Story episodes too. Aaaand I'm almost done the Office, in season 8 now, so I want to get that done soon. I looked up the differences between the Ultimate and theatrical cuts, and for sure some of the scenes they added were absolutely necessary for the film making sense. On the other hand many of the smaller additions only made an already super long film even longer. I can't directly compare it to the theatrical version since I didn't see that one, but it looks like the Ultimate Cut was better. Still not good though... I can't imagine how bad the theatrical version must have seemed now that I think of it

I can see it end up happening. There's also Sun and Moon coming in a few months! That's fair. I only know of the newer abilities and pokemon because I played the newer games - I don't stay updated outside of that. Before playing X I really only knew up to 3rd gen too. Have you ever played Pokemon Showdown? You can play online against people and fully customize your team (pokemon with the right ev's, iv's, items, abilities, etc) and also fight using only certain gens. I usually don't have the patience to get that sorted out in game, so it's kind of fun to mess around with it. I'm pretty bad though

It is!

I've gotta find someone to go see it with me! Too bad I'm the only one of my friends that likes horror movies . I got my friend to watch the Blair Witch Project with me (after much convincing) and he had to turn it off halfway through. I saw the Director's Cut of BvS and people said it was better than the theatrical release, but that's not saying much. Ahh yes . Yeah no need to dig it up. I haven't seen it past that first time yet.

I don't have many classes this term (thank goodness) so it's going alright so far. Thanks! I'll try .

Yeah! Did they say they were going to release more generations? If so, it's just more pokemon for people to go out and risk their lives to get . Yeah I've heard a lot of stories of people like that. And about people who quit their jobs to collect them all. I like the idea of getting people out and walking around but it's also so risky with people really not paying attention to their surroundings. I would probably play X or Y over Omega Ruby if you get a 3DS, mainly because it's a new storyline !and it's actually pretty good!) Oh yeah? You wanna bet? (just kidding, you'd definitely beat me. I'm not that good. Or am I... ) Are you the kind of person that would get the perfect EV's and IV's for your pokemon?

ME TOO

That's interesting. I think I would like that more than the last season. Tsk tsk, another show on your list!

To be fair this really hasn't been the best year for movies. A lot of disappointments I think. Have you not seen BVS yet? What did you think of Man of Steel?

Yes! I'm glad you haven't been spoiled. It's definitely part of some emotional moments and I'm glad I didn't know about it before seeing the movie. I'm glad to hear school seems to be going well! Laid back teachers are great. I've got one really laid back teacher, and this one really, really excitable, passionate Russian prof for a physics class that already feels pretty overwhelming. Ahh well. I'll also be a teaching assistant for some low level physics so that should be fun. My brother was telling me about an astronomy course he's in for arts students, and they had to answer a multiple choice question about how many stars were in the Solar System. Most people answered "an uncountable amount" . Oh and apparently the Earth takes 24 hours to go around the Sun, not a year.

I'm in the exact same situation. I played Pokemon Go for a few days and then got bored and uninstalled it. If it didn't have Pokemon aspect it wouldn't be nearly as popular, which kind of tells you how good a game it really is. There isn't any interesting combat or pokemon training, leveling, and evolving aspect either. Nice! I've been going back to play through Omega Ruby.

... Thank you?

It's been so long since Black Mirror I had forgotten about it! And it looks like there will be 6 episodes next season!

Your list must be getting really long now!

Oh it was very cheesy . Bones got a lot more screen time. They focused a lot more on emphasizing the relationships between Kirk, Spock, and Bones like in the original series, and I really appreciated they did that! They also did something for Leonard during the movie that I won't spoil.

How has school been so far? You're now about a week into classes, right? My first day back is tomorrow.

Definitely wouldn't mind him replacing her. Thanks . The CW Superman definitely looks awkward in that photo, but I think it was just a weird photo. He looks alright in set photos. Yeah I'm not sure if I'll be getting to Legends anytime soon. Ahh well, there are lots of great shows to look forward to this fall and I'm eager to have them back.

Stranger Things definitely got better in the second half. I still wouldn't say I loved it in the end but it was enough for me to want to watch the second season.

That's awesome!

I finally got around to watching the new Star Trek movie (my brother wanted to me to wait to watch it together). Went with my dad too and we all loved it. It was messy at parts, and like the other two movies, most of it was non-stop action with some kind of ridiculous solutions to problems - but it had a some really nostalgic and emotional moments that made it a fitting 50th anniversary movie. I agree with a lot of reviewers in that it felt more like classic Trek than the other movies. It focused on the characters and their relationships more, and them working together after being abandoned on an alien world. It was sad seeing Anton Yelchin on screen though, and the movie was dedicated to him as well as in memory of Leonard Nimoy.

Heh, Curtis is super useful; one episode he even filled in for her and it was one of the more tolerable ones to watch! I know, you'd think the League would be able to hold their own pretty well - and Dahrk himself was supposed to be one of the greatest and more feared fighters which makes it even worse. Yep, totally swept under a rug! She's shaken for a few minutes, goes through a 20-second pep talk and then is completely back to normal after killing all those people. And that's pretty much the last it gets mentioned. Oh definitely I'll be watching season 5. Not because I think it'll get better - more to see just how bad it can get . I don't have high hopes, and this pretty much sums it up (what's next for each DC show on the CW):

I never started watching Legends of Tomorrow and I heard it was pretty meh. I think Captain Cold is a great character though, so I'd even watch it just for him.

I see what you mean. I can't see AMC being able to get away with a lot of that. I can see why the comic is considered especially controversial!

Yeah, I did stick with it to the end to see it through. I think the second half of the season is stronger than the first half since they move closer to the actual mystery/sci-fi and everyone is eventually on the same page (finally). ... I had no idea Barb had a fanbase. I looked it up just now and wow, she's really become a sensation... I don't understand it at all. She was pretty boring and really only served as a plot device instead of a well-developed character.

I also heard that they did a pretty good job at least. Definitely sounds like it deserved its bad reviews!

Very appropriate reaction.

Yeah I liked Felicity in the first two seasons but now she's such a hypocritical never-wrong Mary Sue that has completely taken over the show - it's such a shame. Oliver never goes as close to full Green Arrow as we would hope - instead Felicity and her "hacking" always save the day. The fight choreography has really become so bad... have you seen this from the season 4 finale? You'd hope they would put in some effort but nope... it gets especially bad at 2:00. And remember that this is THE final showdown between Oliver and the big bad of all of season 4 - you'd think it would be memorable (in a good way).

NUKES. YES . Several plot points involved nuking the whole world... at one point a whole city was nuked (Felicity diverted a nuke that was going to hit a major city to hit a smaller city instead), and she's way more devastated that her mom lied to her than the deaths of 10,000 people. The season finale was such a letdown though. Dahrk, the big bad, gets his power from deaths, and the city getting nuked gives him the power of 10,000 souls on top of the immense power he already had. In the show you see he's unstoppable, powerful, etc, but in the finale Oliver is able to channel that same kind of magic but with "hope" instead of deaths and that leads to Dahrk and Oliver just fist-fighting at the end. Really terrifying

... I'll stop now

Right? I totally understand what you mean by underwhelmed. Again I wasn't really blown away by the show. The teenage romance, yeah, and also just the extremely stereotypical suburban family that seems to show up everywhere - brother and sister who fight and tell secrets out loud at the dinner table, over-protective and nosy mom, couldn't-care-less/listen-to-your-mother dad... it just seems so familiar. The sketchy government agency with secret experiments? Seen that a hundred times before. And so many more very familiar tropes. Agree about the "Should I stay" scene - as I might have mentioned earlier I really think that the 80's music feels forced. A lot of people have praised the soundtrack but I just thought it often doesn't fit or is overused, and it's like they have an 80's song just for the sake of it to make it more nostalgic.

Sounds like the reviews were pretty accurate then. I might not see it then and just wait for it to be on DVD(/streaming). I was going to see it with some friends but we never got around to it because we were all so "meh" about it with the reviews. It sounds really disappointing!

Oh by all means - I'm all ears! Arrow is really a joke now, I completely agree with your problems with it . Yeah Slade Wilson was perfectly cast and initially he was a great villain but they seriously messed up his character - and what makes it even more sad is that Manu Bennett was actually a fan of the DC comics and he's said in interviews how disappointed he was in what Arrow did. Yeah Arrow mistreated Laurel a lot so I'm glad she's at least getting some respect on Flash - and her canary cry looks even better than ever. Season 3 was bad but nowhere as bad as Season 4, especially with where they took Felicity's character. My goodness Felicity is horrible now... The show might as well be called "Felicity and Friends". And don't get me started on the writing and plot points they introduced. This has got to be one of the best scenes:

Ahh I see. I can imagine a lot of great 80's wigs already. That's a perfect disguise! They won't ever see me coming!

Aaaand as of tonight I'm all caught up!

I think it will - as bad as the movies have been, people are still going out to watch them. Maybe if both Justice League and Wonder Woman flop they'll cancel it. Oh have fun! Let me know how it goes. I'll probably be seeing it pretty soon as well. I still haven't seen Deadpool

It really was! I'm looking forward to the full length version when the DVD is out.

Looking forward to seeing those wigs. Is it based in a certain time-period? Maybe I should. The Supernatural crew already recognize me. I'm enjoying Preacher! I'm up to episode 5 now. I meant to watch more but a video game tournament has been on the past week so I've been watching that instead all day. I'll be interested to discuss the season finale with you then! Cassidy is great, and I love how his nickname is Cas here too. The angels are pretty funny in their awkwardness. Since they were introduced I really thought they were the bad guys but it seems they have a good reason for being there... still kind of mysterious though, so I'm looking forward to seeing what their true intentions are since apparently Heaven doesn't know/want them on Earth.

That's true, I did hear that the reception to BvS's darkness made SS lighter than intended, so I can see something similar happen to Justice League and Wonder Woman. At least Ben Affleck will be directing the next Batman solo film and he's a good filmmaker, and I liked his Batman a lot more than I was expecting... though that's not going to be for a few years.

Oh Japan! I'm not sure who I would "cheer" for in that matchup.

Oh definitely the lights will be off . I've never a been an anime person and I've never been interested in reading manga, but Death Note is an exception. Add it to the list of shows you should watch! . I'm also happy about it being on Netflix.

Yay! I'm sure you'll like it. There are 4 seasons out now, each with 10 episodes so it really is a quick watch. The next season has been confirmed to be the last. That's high praise for The Americans! I'll add it to my list. I've been binge-watching a lot of shows recently so I'm reaching the end of my to-do list pretty soon. I just finished all of Lucifer and it was fantastic. Really a lot of fun. I was surprised it didn't get that great reviews critically but it seems that average watchers think highly of it. They cast the perfect guy to play Lucifer and I'll definitely try to track them down filming when I'm back home . I've moved on to Preacher now and finished episode 1. Definitely going to keep watching and at this rate I'll be done in a couple days.

I didn't realize it but you're absolutely right about that! . I wonder how much of what made it bad was studio interference and how much was that it was just a bad movie... probably a bit of both. Too bad, too. DC movies just can't seem to succeed.

Exactly, it was just horrible . Duly noted; I'd still like to check it out, though probably when it's on DVD. By the way, not sure if you watched/read the Death Note anime/manga but Netflix is doing a live action adaption - and I just found out today the director was also behind Blair Witch. I'm even more interested in seeing both of them now. Willem Dafoe was just cast in it, too.

Alright, I hope you enjoy Stranger Things! I just binge-watched Bojack Horseman; it took the first half of season 1 to grow on me but by the end I really fell in love with the show. Next in my queue is Lucifer, which I'm planning on starting tomorrow, and then Preacher. Vancouver's not called Hollywood North for nothing!

I cannot recommend Orphan Black enough. It's one of my favourite shows and feels like a really fast watch because its extremely fast-paced. It doesn't drag out storylines for the sake of cheap drama, and it has multiple plot twists every episode... it's intense and refreshing! And yes, Tatiana Maslany does an absolutely incredible job. It's such a shame she hasn't won any major awards for her performances. She was just nominated for her second Emmy and I'm rooting for her!

That's a good question!

Yes! I'm really looking forward to it! I was worried it would be like the last sequel which was horrible... but I'm so relieved to see such positive reviews.

My friends didn't think there were many cliches so I was probably just really nitpicky. For sure it does a good job as a homage - there are lot of small details that make the 80's nostalgia particularly strong, even the font of the title cards (very Stephen King, who is a big fan of the show). I'm going to check out Preacher; I like the sound of it a lot! I also want to check out Lucifer. Filmed in Vancouver and a spinoff from the Sandman comics which I loved. Hmm I'm only in season 2 of the Office so I haven't gotten to know the less important characters all that well, but I like Jim a lot so far. Sometimes though I have to take a break from watching it because it can be physically painful watching Michael be so mean . Apparently he gets humanized a bit later in the series. What about Orphan Black - have you been watching that?

OH MY GOODNESS the bees are the worst. The WORST. I know this isn't CGI but it never gets old for how bad it is:

Heh, I can see that. Yeah the hard punk really fit the tone well. The whole movie felt really gritty and that contributed.

I know, I know . I just felt that it was all too familiar and not original enough. On the one hand I know it's supposed to be a nod to the 80's and feels like a mish-mash of a lot of references, but I wish it wasn't so familiar. A lot of the situations and characters were cliche and predictable. To be fair, it did take common cliches and pleasantly change them when you didn't expect it, but it just didn't feel like enough to me.

I've heard of Preacher! I've seen ads for it but haven't watched it. I'm slowly going through The Office right now. I always caught clips and episodes on TV but never sat down to watch it from episode 1.

Oh that's interesting, I didn't know that! Yeah I remember the banshee... . I wish they used more physical makeup instead of CGI all the time. Nice! I'm so happy to hear you're looking forward to it!

You're not alone; I don't think tanukis are well known outside of Japan. I only knew about them because of the Zootopia easter egg myself! Alright. I'm curious what could be going on in this scene you're talking about... I'm definitely going to check it out. Maybe even tonight!

Edit: Just finished watching Green Room. Super intense and definitely not holding back on the brutality. It was really well done.

I thought Stranger Things was entertaining and it's decent horror. I wasn't as taken with it as most people though. Everyone I've talked to about it has gushed about how amazing it is so definitely don't just take my word for it. I can see why people love it but maybe it wasn't for me. It was good to see Winona Ryder! She's been a supporting actress in a lot but it was nice to see her in a bigger role.

Sounds good!

Yeah the CGI wasn't always the best. I'm always curious what their budget is and how they distribute everything. I always thought they got rid of a lot of classic rock in favour of better CGI but maybe not... or maybe they're just getting lazy! When is school starting up for you? Or if you're in school right now how far into it are you? How's it going?

I guess we'll find out tomorrow! I heard great things about Zootopia. One thing I heard is that depending on where you see the movie, the newscaster changes. So in the North America it's the moose Peter Moosebridge (and actually voiced by the Canadian newscaster Peter Mansbridge), in china it's a panda, in Japan it's a tanuki, etc - it's a cool touch. Right? That's what I'm thinking . I'm really bad at staying up to date with lesser known movies so I should really start to do more digging. Sounds like I should definitely watch it!

That's fair! And at least it's only 8 episodes so it's not a huge time commitment. I find if I'm in the mood to binge a show I can, but it only happens in spurts and usually I'm really slow.

I'll keep it in mind then, maybe for a Hallowe'en movie. OVER 100 DEGREES? ... wowzers yeah I wouldn't be able to last in that heat! I take back what I said earlier, 82 F is just fine thank you very much...

"Fight the fairies! Fight the fairies, Sam!" . One of the best Soulless Sam episodes I think. I hope you're enjoying season 11! Yeah Casifer is pretty great, character-wise and name-wise.

Naw just that 60 years is a pretty long time, making the Grey Cup almost twice as old.

I think the Tuesday night movie plan next week is to see Star Trek. When it actually gets released in a couple days, I'll be interested to hear what the general public thinks. We saw Finding Dory today which was great. I'd love to pop on the Blair Witch project and say it's just a good 'ol documentary or something. There's one guy who doesn't come to movie night but is a horror fan and I've been trying to recruit him. You're right about it being a great year for horror! Horror can be so delicate to get right... good horror is hard to come by because it's so easy to make it gimmicky, cliche, or just plain ridiculous. I really want to see Green Room not just for the horror but also because of Patrick Stewart... I always think Jean-Luc Picard when I see him. I take it it was good? And have you watched Stranger Things?

I haven't seen Hocus Pocus, but heard it was pretty bad! Yeah, he's done a lot of work with Guillermo Del Toro. Seriously?! I feel like I'm melting!

Yeah, Weekend at Bobby's was fantastic. I always like The Man Who Would Be King from that season, too. The Bobby/Rufus episode is a real treat! I had no idea it was coming before I watched it and it was such a nice surprise. Almost teared up a bit at the very end of it. Well, I can always find the actual Impala on the filming set (and I have in the past) so I figured I wasn't missing out on too much. I liked Metatron a lot more in this season than previous ones, so maybe you'll grow to like him more. Excuses, excuses!

Yeah, pretty big differences actually. Of course I'm biased but I like the Canadian version (CFL) a lot more; it's a lot more fast-paced and games are generally much higher scoring. "Only" 60 years . I will give you that football is way, way more popular in America though. Especially college football.

Good point about the director, I had actually forgotten it wasn't J. J. Abrams this time. I just looked at the early reviews for the movie and they look pretty good. I'm optimistic!

Lights Out has gotten great reviews. I'd like to see it but I know none of the people I work with would want to. There's a half-price movie night every Tuesday so us summer research students go and pick a movie together. I'm the only one okay with horror though.

Darn, that's far from it then! Haha, I considered even driving just south of the border and picking it up there... I've heard there are post offices that do that for Canadians wanting to order US-shipping-only stuff. Doug Jones, cool! Not a name that's heard often but he's really been in a lot. Sorry to hear about his panel, that sucks. As a Vancouverite I definitely don't experience really hot summers, but the rest of Canada at the same latitude generally does... you in California might not think this is out of the ordinary but I'm dying in 28 C (82 F) here . I just want my clouds and rain back.

Season 6 did give us The French Mistake which is still one of my all time favourite Supernatural episodes. The season wasn't my favourite but I feel it's not nearly as bad as so many people think. Baby is considered a standout episode of season 11! Probably another of my favourites. There was an Impala at the comicon too, on display and you could pay to take a picture of it. It was much to shiny though . Ahh okay, yeah the Chuck spoiler was what I was most curious about if you knew. The episode it's revealed in was really well done. As you should be!

Thanks! Really excited about the coming year. American football. Well, the Canadian variant (I know, I know, but there are key differences between Canadian and American football ). Obviously hockey is way more popular here, but the small percent of us that are fans love our little league. And hey, the Grey Cup is way older than the Super Bowl

The first trailer had me really worried with the way it was shown - all explosions, motorcycle racing, rock music... not that I have anything against any of that of course but it didn't feel like Star Trek. The second trailer was a lot better though. I'm excited that Simon Pegg co-wrote it, so overall I'm looking forward to it, albeit cautiously.

A very appropriate reaction.

No problem! Hope you were able to have a good celebration! And thanks! Really glad to hear you're having a great summer! That's a strange spot for a mosh pit . Were you at the barrier then? Heh, I just came from a comic convention as well. My best find there was some Batman converse. I've been trying to find DC converse for years but no-one ships to Canada - or the designs are pretty bad. Also got an autograph from Robin Lord Taylor from Gotham, and he's super sweet and genuine. I hope you make it to Australia next year then. I've never been! Going in their wintertime is a good idea! I'm sorry to hear about your dog... my best wishes to you.

YES, you've heard right - season 11 has been a huge improvement. A lot of people have said it's the best since season 5 and I agree with them. Ahh so you're not free of spoilers? I'm curious about how much you know... Yeah, Casifer was pretty hilarious. And hey - you're the one that got me hooked on Supernatural. You can't stop now!

Since we last talked, I graduated! I'll be starting my master's degree in September, and I'll be publishing my first paper within the next few months... I've got a lot to look forward to. Right now I'm in a research position at another university and it's been a really good experience. My parents are actually going to come visit me in a couple weeks and I'll be taking my dad out to a football game .

Happy birthday!

How have you been? How's your summer going?

Happy New Year to you too!! Hope it's a fantastic one

My goodness, I got so carried away with writing up the Star Wars review last message that I completely forgot to wish you a Merry Christmas then!

Thank you and I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and are enjoying the holiday

Ahh I see! Haha I think I remember that happening but I never watched it.

Yeah I know some hardcore Musers who have met the band and they've told them it's a bad assumption. It's too bad because so many "rarities" in NA shouldn't be rarities!

You've seen it right??

That's a good point, they did announce the tour really late. Yeah, I had a great time . I hear you about the guitar-dropping. At least he didn't do it for the whole song and did play all the guitar solos, but it is really nice having him play the whole time. I agree about UD and Madness - together with Revolt all in a row is a bit much! If only they played SS!

What's that from?

Haha maybe I should have brought a sign. It's too bad that CE was played at pretty much every single Euro show but not really at NA shows. I've heard that Muse don't think NA people know pre-Absolution songs well.

One of the only people dancing to any of the songs, really! My brother and I were definitely most of the energy singing-wise coming from our section of the floor, seemed like it was just us and one other near us that knew the lyrics to all the songs.