Netflix Adventures-Flashpoint

One of my favorite TV series is The Unit, a military show. But, after that ended, I searched around to find a similar show- to no avail.

However, once I got Netflix, I came across Flashpoint. It reminded me SO much of The Unit, so I instantly fell in love with the series.

Flashpoint is set in Canada and revolves around the Strategic Response Unit, a fictional Canadian version of the SWAT. Basically, it shows how the team goes about taking down criminals, how they interact with areas such as love, and how they deal with the issues (mental and physical) of being a police officer.

Now, if you read some of my old posts, then you would know that I love the way Sons of Anarchy is written. Now, Flashpoint is on that level, but, the writing is pretty good. To me, the sing of good writing is making the audience actually care about the characters, which Flashpoint does. Plus, Sam also played in The Unit.

Anyway, give it a try if you’d like.

Netflix Adventures-Boot Camp

It’s been awhile since I decided to sit down and write about what I’ve been watching. But, I saw  decent movie Thursday that I think people should check out. My friend and I were looking for something to watch. She wanted to see a comedy. I was browsing on  the main page when I saw Mila Kunis on the cover of Boot Camp-needless to say, that’s what we watched.

So let’s get into the movie. Boot Camp is about a group of teenagers. They are wild and rebellious, therefore, their parents enlist them in this program. The program ships them off to Fiji. The program is a mixture of boot camp and forced labor. There are three ranks at the camp, Black Shirts (lowest), Yellow Shirts, and White Shirts (highest). Advancement comes through various means, from beating down other teens to sexual acts (yeah, it’s NOT a movie for young kids, I’ll explain later).

The plot follows a group of four teens as they enter the camp, with Mila being the break protagonist. Once on the island, four or five main characters are introduced. I guess I’d have to say characterization is where the movie falls short. Then movie intros the center group, but it really only focuses on Mila’s growth, which is a little disappointing.

This movie really reminded me a lot of Lord of the Flies.

Now, this movie is not for younger people. There are some pretty intense beatings in the film and there is one torture scene (once they first get to the camp). There is also a rape scene, and although no parts are shown, it is pretty raw and graphic.

Well, that’s all I can say without spoiling the film.

Well, that’s it for today, post your thoughts below.

Peace!

Netflix Adventures-The Kill Point

Now, I had The Kill Point in my Netflix queue for a LONG time. But, I finally got around to watching it. And to be honest, I’m upset that I didn’t take the time to watch it earlier.

The plot’s show is really want brought me in. Basically, a group of Marines have come home from Iraq after doing two or three tours. Once they get back to the states, it was hard from them to get work. Therefore, the Marine’s leader, Mr. Wolf (played by John Leguizamo), gets them all together and they rob a bank. Stuff goes wrong during the robbery, and the situation turns into a big game of chest involving multiple hostages.

On the other side of the law, Captain Cali (played by Donnie Wahlberg) is working to get those hostages out. He does this by negotiating with Mr. Wolf; because although Mr. Wolf is the leader, he has a good heart and really doesn’t want to see people getting hurt.

Now, the show has some action in it, but there are a lot of thinking and psychological struggle, which is why a lot of people on Netflix try to give it bad reviews. People also criticize the acting, and to be honest, the acting wasn’t bad for real. Now, Leguizamo and Wahlberg did carry most of the weight, but the others do their part as well.

Anyway, I highly suggest this show. Give it a watch.

Peace!

Netflix Adventures-Blood+

If you have read my previous posts, then you know I like to watch anime, particularly violent anime. Well, over the past couple of weeks, I’ve watched a series called Blood+ (blood plus).

I’m not going to go too deep into the plot, but I’ll give a small overview. So, you got the main character; her name is Saya. Saya is warrior, and it just so happens that she is the only one who can defeat these blood-sucking monsters.

The series is 50 episodes, not too long. There is plenty of action as well. My only complaint is that the show doesn’t always explain things in detail, OR, you have to wait a whole bunch of episodes to find out the answer.

I’m not going to recommend this show, because it is really violent. Watch it on your own accord. If you are ok with violence though, you will probably find it enjoyable.

Netflix Adventures-Sons of Anarchy Season 1

So, my Twitter feed had been blowing up with people tweeting about Sons of Anarchy. So, after I finished up stint with Clannad, I decided to give this show a try.

Sons of Anarchy follows the adventures of a Motorcycle Club in North Carolina. Now, the club is involved in other things besides riding around, such as weapons trading and vigilante justice. The main character is a guy named Jax, who is the Vice President of the club.

That's Jax

His father was the founder, but he died a while ago. The current president is now dating Jax’s mom.

The president, Clay, and Jax's mother

Yeah, crazy huh?

Anyway, Early on, Jax’s ex-wife has a son, and he finds a journal written by his father. These events start to change him; he starts questioning the morals and ethics of certain acts.

Sons of Anarchy is a WELL written show. Let’s be honest, FX normally puts out sub-pair shows. But, they hit the money with this one.

I’m on season 2, about half way, so when I’m done with that, I’ll have another post.

Netflix Adventures-Clannad Vol. 2 and After Story

Last time I wrote about Clannad, specifically vol. 1. This time I’m going to talk a bit more about vol. 2 and After Story.

Vol. had a main story arch, but it also had a lot of random side-stories.

Fuko's storyline was one of those random one's in Vol. 1. It should have been shorter than it was.

Vol. 2 tried to cut down on the side-stories and focus on the main story, the developing relationship between Tomoya and Nagis. This might be a spoiler alert, but at the end of the season, the two FINALLY begin to date (after all that build up).

Now After Story, woo, was that a show1 After Story is a lot more focused that the first two volumes. And one thing that I liked alout about After Story is that it centered around Tomoya and his past.

The first two volumes kind of glossed over his past, but After Story puts everything on the table. I’m not going to into much detail, because it’s really something you should see, not read about.

I suggest you watch the whole series if you are going to watch it at all. It’s easy to get through; it think I did it in about four or five days (due to studying).

 

Netflix Adventures-Clannad

Alright, normally when I watch anime, I need some thing violent or adventurous you know. But last week, I needed a bit of a change of pace. So, I began watching a charming little show called Clannad.

The story centers around a high school senior named Tomoya.

Tomoya is a screw up; he gets into trouble at fights, cut classes, etc. But, one day at school he meets a girl named Nagisa.

As you could probably guess, the show highlights their path to love. But, series takes a couple of side-turns before it gets there.

Now, I’ll say this about Clannad; it knows how to play with your emotions. One minute you are busting out laughing, and the next mintue tears will be starting to form in your eyes. Clannad has a lot of adult content in it. Take Tomoya’s family life for example. His mother died so he was raised by his father. But, his father never fully recovered from his wife’s death, so he went on a heavy drinking binge. I’m talking about years of drinking. It got to the point that Tomoya was basically raising himself.

But anyway, I’m actually NOT going to recommend this to everyone. Thing don’t have an happy ending.

Netflix Adventures-Wilderness

I enjoy a good scary movie every once in a while. You know, it gets the blood pumping. But, if I do sit down to watch one, I want to be scared. That didn’t happen with Wilderness.

The premise is a bit interesting. You’ve got these teens, all of them are in juvi for various crimes. In juvi there are two bullies. A kid kills himself because he was picked on so badly. ALL the kids were then sent to an old military training island (even a vato who had just arrived there a day before). Once on the island, they meet up with this group of girls, and that’s when people start to die.

The acting wasn’t too bad. In fact, most of the people did a good job. The writing it’s self is where things fell short. Plus the movie tried to scare you with gore instead of scary elements.

I’ll be honest, don’t watch this movie. It’s not HORRIBLE, but, there is better stuff on Netflix than this.

Netflix Adventures-The Walking Dead

The other day I watched the entire first season of The Walking Dead.

I actually watched part of this series last year on AMC. But, I was surrounded by friends then, so it was hard to pay attention.  But I like I said, I went back and watched the first season.

It’s 6 episodes full of zombie goodness. What’s not to love? What makes the series great is the writing and the characters. This series has a lot of characters that you will actually care about.

Also, the cinematics is amazing as well. Some of the shots were unreal.

But anyway, give to a watch if you have got some time.

Peace!.

Netflix Adventures-High School of the Dead

I’m going to you with another Netflix Adventure.

So last week I was looking for some anime to watch when I ran across a series called High School of the Dead.

Can you guess what it’s about?

Basically, there is an outbreak that spreads across the world in about 4 hours, turning fools into zombies. Students at a Japanese high school are attacked by zombies. Their teaches are eaten, and therefore most of the school is eaten as well. However, one crafty group is able to survive the attacks and make it out alive.

Now, the crew was portrayed to be a rag-tag bunch, all with secret abilities that had gone unnoticed by their peers. For example, for the character was basically one of the biggest nerds in the school; everyone picked on him. But what they didn’t know is that he had moved to America for a bit and was BlackWater military operative for about a year.

Anyway, the series plays out like a standard zombie movie would. And of course it is extremely violent.

The only real gripe I had about the series is that it is really short. It’s 12 episodes, so you can finish it in a few hours (like I did). Also, there is A LOT of fan service in this show. It wasn’t really need either, but, it’s there, so you have to deal with it.

It’s a shame the show probably won’t have a second season. I know you shouldn’t use Wikipedia, but, I went there to look at how some of the critics reacted to the show. The results were mixed:

Chris Beveridge from Mania.com comments on the first episode, “There’s a lot to like here if you’re looking for something beyond the usual high school dramas and comedies of the last few years.”Carlo Santos of Anime News Network states that, “Other recent zombie works in Western entertainment have tried to play it ironic, or postmodernist, or just plain silly, but this one goes for straight-up horror—and pulls it off admirably.”However, Zac Bertschy, also of Anime News Network, states for this episode that, “It just could’ve easily been written by a script generator or a horror fan with 19 minutes to kill.”

At Comic-Con 2011, the manga was among the five “Worst Manga of 2011″ in the Best and Worst Manga of 2011 panel.

But hey, I  would put it up here if I didn’t recommend it. Give it a try.