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One Piece: The End of An Era and A New Beginning

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 The year of 2025 is coming to a close, and typically I write about my Game of the Year. But this time around, I did not finish my favorite game to its fullest. So, the next one may be about that, who knows. In favor of scrapping that idea, I have decided to write about the end of One Piece's original TV Adaptation. Something that I never really thought could happen, especially after 25 years of it. While I welcome the change for the series, I'm really gonna miss the behemoth. Now, One Piece may actually last forever. Regardless, I am going to talk about my history with the anime and go over some of my favorite parts.  My first experience with the One Piece Anime was through the 4Kids Rap. I remember seeing it on Saturday mornings and immediately peacing out. I had no tolerance for the goofy pirate rap when I could be watching Sonic X, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or TMNT. So, for years that was my impression of One Piece. A TV show with a really bad rap song for an intro. This impression would...
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Mortal Kombat (1995): My Soul Is Theirs

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 Recently, I rewatched the Mortal Kombat Live-Action Movies from the 1990s. While Mortal Kombat: Annihilation has a few bright spots, it never escaped the failures and missteps that I remember. But to no surprise, Mortal Kombat (1995) was still just as fun. This film marked an interesting time in Mortal Kombat's history as a series. The games had some snippets of lore and some comics floating around, yet there wasn't that much to work with for a whole movie's worth. Not like with the recent games from NetherRealm Studios, or even the 3D Era of the series. So, to come away with a movie that worked and felt true to the source material seemed impossible. But against all odds, Paul W.S. Anderson and his team managed to pull it off.  The big reason for this piece was because I wanted to write about Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa's role as Shang Tsung, but also because I wanted to talk about the missteps of the other Live-Action MKs and the new Street Fighter Live-Action. These things ...
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Conker's Bad Fur Day: It Was Also Live & Reloaded

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 This time around I had a couple of ideas floating in my head. And what I landed on was a journey. A journey to finally hunker down and complete not just one game, but two. Those games are Conker's Bad Fur Day, and its remake, Conker: Live & Reloaded. Two titles where I never made it past the first couple of hours in my previous attempts. Yet now I am stronger. A human with a better tolerance for general gaming bullshit. Because that's what Conker was for me. Games in the Rare catalogue that weren't necessarily bad, but they also weren't good.  This may sound harsh at the outset because, what's wrong with Conker? Each one functions as they should right? For the most part, yes. There wasn't really anything egregious that breaks the Conkers. BFD has some friction due to some old school jank, and Live & Reloaded fixes much of that. But that's just it. The games just do their jobs. Conker, and his world may be colorful, but playing the game was just too ...
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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: A Family Film

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 Recently, I got the itch to rewatch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). It had been a while and I was hankering for something a bit older. But, what I really wanted to do was reevaluate the film. I watched it when I really didn't understand what the movie was saying, and I felt like I hadn't given it a fair shake. So, to correct the course, I popped it on. And what I came away with was mostly the same, yet I noticed some details stood out more. And it made me appreciate Sally (Played by Marilyn Burns) more as a character. With this appreciation, I was also reminded of how bad the character had been utilized in Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022). A movie that I had watched on release at like 2 in the morning. Like, I wasn't a fan of the character then, yet even I could tell that something was wrong. Sally was this mix of Jamie Lee Curtis's Laurie Strode from Halloween (2018) and Dennis Hopper's Lieutenant Lefty from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2. Two characters th...
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The Music Of Horror: Some of My Favorite Composers

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 Today is Halloween, and I should make another Horror post. And so I will. With the topic this time being about the sounds. As much as I like my audio design in this genre, I did want to focus more on the composition side. Whether it's Movies, Television, or Games. Horror has pretty much always been on the ball with the creaks and crunches. But the one's that can nail the composition go much further for me than those that neglect or lack in this department.  This opinion very much comes from my viewer monkey brain, and not with actual music expertise. So, some scores that sound great and move people, may not do it for me. This is all just to preface my very good opinions that no one is going to care about. But that's enough messing around, let's just dive right in. What makes an exceptional Horror score for me? Well, it mostly comes down to the emotions of the scene, and the build-up in many ways. There's plenty of media in the Horror Space that feature very talente...
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Mortal Kombat 4: The Most Unserious of Kombats

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 Seeing as how the month is October, I wanted to cover something Horror. Or in this case, something Horror-adjacent. The first one that I landed on was Mortal Kombat. But not just any Mortal Kombat. I am going to cover the funniest entry, Mortal Kombat 4. A divisive entry for people as some can find the diamonds in the rough, while others simply can't stand it. For me, I love this game. I put it up there with SoulCalibur II as my favorite fighting games. Yet where SoulCalibur II succeeds on almost all of its fronts. From the presentation to the way that game feels and flows. It's why SoulCalibur II has always stood as a gold standard for me. This is especially true when you look at other iconic 3D Fighters.  But Mortal Kombat 4 is not any of that. The game on its surface doesn't appear to be much different from its 2D predecessors. The major difference really just involves the new 3D stylings. So, you could absolutely arrive at this conclusion if you've only spent a few...
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