The Knack’s My Sharona cover by Phil X (Bon Jovi) and The Drills
Month: November 2016
I Accept This…
You are receiving an award –- either one that already exists, or a new one created just for you. What would the award be, why are you being honored, and what would you say in your acceptance speech?
I’d like to thank my immediate family members, everyone who believed in me and had faith & trust in me. I’d like to thank the handful of friends who have been my well-wishers and cheerleaders throughout the various stages of my life.
I’d like to thank everyone, living or alive, who have had some effect on me. No matter good or bad something that you said or did has shaped things in my life and made me the person I am today for better or for worse and perhaps without those events happening, I would not have made it here today to accept this award.
To everyone else, bugger off! Peace, out!
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
Unboxing The TOS Era Romulan Bird Of Prey
As far as classic alien ships goes, this one is probably the most famous and the most gorgeous looking one (atleast as replicated here cause we did see very little of it in TOS). And rightly so! This one is the Romulan Bird of Prey as seen in Star Trek The Original Series. Or 23rd Century Romulan Bird Of Prey if you so choose to call it and Eaglemoss has gone a splendid job in giving us a model.
The Romulan Bird-of-Prey was a type of space vessel that was in service with the military of the Romulan Star Empire during the latter half of the 23rd century. Gaining its name from the bold pattern of an alien bird’s feathers painted on the ship’s ventral hull, the Romulan Bird-of-Prey was the successor of a 22nd century counterpart of similar design.
The Federation Starfleet first encountered this vessel in 2266, when a single ship of this type crossed the Romulan Neutral Zone and attacked several border outposts, destroying them utterly. The USS Enterprise responded to the alert and engaged in a tense game of cat-and-mouse with the intruder for more than ten hours, before the Bird-of-Prey was destroyed. (TOS: “Balance of Terror”) The Romulans later used larger numbers to patrol their border with the Federation in force. Typically during an incursion, one Bird-of-Prey would bring a starship out of warp with a plasma torpedo to allow the ships in its battle group to attack the target en masse. When the Enterprise violated the Neutral Zone on the orders of Commodore Stocker in 2267, it was ambushed by a squadron of ten Birds-of-Prey. (TOS: “The Deadly Years”)
After the Romulan-Klingon Alliance of 2268, the Bird-of-Prey was largely supplanted by the more massive and more versatile Klingon D7-class battle cruiser, although some were used in concert with the D7s. (TOS: “The Enterprise Incident”) Information on this class of starship was assimilated in 2375, by the Borg drone One, from the database aboard USS Voyager. (VOY: “Drone”) Remarkably similar in design to contemporaneous Federation starships, the Romulan Bird-of-Prey was designed with a sole primary hull configuration.
Grey in color, with its namesake bird design painted on the hull, the Bird-of-Prey was essentially a saucer with parallel warp nacelles mounted port and starboard of the main body. The aft of the ship was designed with a raised “fin.” (TOS: “Balance of Terror”, etc.) Although incapable of matching the Federation’s Constitution-class starship one-on-one, the ship still featured several technological advances that were previously unattainable to Federation science: the first practical invisibility screen, and the massively powerful plasma torpedo. This class of starship had a single forward torpedo launcher. It also carried a number of nuclear weapons. With these combined abilities, the Bird-of-Prey was able to strike its enemies at will, practically undetected and unchallenged.
Well I hope you liked the photos. Unfortunately, I lost the video of the unboxing but will put up the closer look video soon.
Food Review #130
McDonald’s Big Spicy Paneer Wrap – love it. I love both versions of the big spicy wraps, the paneer and the chicken.
Arsenal 3 Bournemouth 1
Arsenal ended a run of three successive draws as Alexis Sanchez scored twice and Theo Walcott once to secure victory over Bournemouth. The pressure was on the Gunners after rivals Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City won on Saturday, and they were gifted the lead when Steve Cook’s poor backpass allowed Sanchez to calmly side-foot past Adam Federici. But Callum Wilson equalised with a penalty after referee Mike Jones judged the striker was fouled by Nacho Monreal and, against a rattled home side, Bournemouth missed two good chances when an unmarked Adam Smith headed over before Brad Smith had an angled shot saved.
Arsenal almost restored their lead when a Sanchez strike came off the crossbar but Walcott did score when he headed in a Monreal cross. Monreal escaped conceding another penalty when a Simon Francis pass struck him on the arm in the area before keeper Petr Cech made a crucial save from Benik Afobe. Sanchez made sure of the win when he slotted in an Olivier Giroud cross, moving the Gunners three points behind top-flight leaders Chelsea and two shy of Liverpool and City. Walcott’s second child was born on Friday, and he marked the occasion with his sixth league goal of the campaign, already one more than he managed in the whole of last season. The winger’s tally is his best in the top flight since 2012-13, when he scored 14, and he helped provide a much-needed win for Arsene Wenger’s side as they extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 19 games. Arsenal had struggled to produce their best and most fluent football in some recent high-profile games, having drawn with Tottenham, Manchester United and Paris St-Germain in their past three outings, and, at times, looked less than secure against the Cherries.
However, even though the Gunners – with 51.8% of the ball – did not dominate possession as much as they are used to, they did show signs of a return to form, especially in the second half. Sanchez’s work-rate and threat in front of goal are key to their prospects. He ended a run of four Arsenal games without a goal as he took his league tally to eight for the season. “We started to click again, even though it was in patches,” said Walcott. The scoreline did not reflect Bournemouth’s efforts and, not only will they be left to rue referee Jones’ decision not to give a penalty for Monreal’s handball, they will also regret some of their missed chances. They took the game to the Gunners and the result might have been different had Smith done better than heading high from 10 yards after Nathan Ake nodded a free-kick back across goal. Smith also appeared to make the wrong decision when he chose to have an angled shot, which was saved by Cech, rather than square the ball for Wilson.
Cech also denied Afobe late on as the visitors matched the Gunners in terms of shots on target, with both registering three apiece. “We are disappointed,” said Cherries boss Eddie Howe, who was without on-loan Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, as he was ineligible to play against his parent club. “We came here to win and leave with our heads held high.” Callum Wilson’s goal was Bournemouth’s first against Arsenal in any competition. The Gunners have conceded a penalty in consecutive home games for the first time in the Premier League. Arsenal have had seven shots on target in their past four games in all competitions, and have scored seven goals. Only Crystal Palace (eight) have scored more headed goals than Arsenal (six) in the Premier League this season. Olivier Giroud has been involved in more goals from the bench than any other Premier League player this season (three goals, one assist).
4 For 4 In The DC Verse
OK, so who else is a fan of the DC universe in the television series? I find that I like the tv shows a bit more than the movies, though the Wonder Woman & Justice League movies coming up next year will surely balance the tip more towards the movie side of things. Though I did like Batman vs Superman to be honest, compared to Man Of Steel, it was waaay better. But for me the 4 tv shows – Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl & Legends Of Tomorrow – really are among my favourite shows to watch of all time. Though I feel that The Arrowverse is more what they are referred to as the movies aren’t connected to the series.
Which I think is a shame! Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl in particular are awesome casting with Legends also hitting the top marks in that department (but I shall mentioned a few things later). They have memorable characters and even if the plots and storylines seem more tv friendly they do have their darker moments as well. And this post is in particular as this coming week, starting Monday, we have a storyline that will span 4 days and the 4 shows in which the heroes will come together to fight an invading alien force. The story will start off with the ending moments of a Supergirl episode on Monday, move onto The Flash where the storyline takes off, then continue on the Arrow before concluding on Legends Of Tomorrow.
“Invasion!” sees all of the main cast members for each series appear in at least their own series, with Melissa Benoist appearing as Supergirl across the entire crossover. Multiple actors and characters from previous Arrow seasons also return to reprise their roles in the Arrow episode, as it is the series’ 100th. All three episodes in The Flash, Arrow & Legends will be titled as “Invasion”. Things look very exciting indeed with an alternate timeline also in place in Arrow and something about a shocking secret related to Flashpoint is revealed and suddenly no one is sure who they can trust.
I am tempted to wait till Friday and watch them all back to back after I have downloaded them all. I guess I will wait and see.
Arrival
Arrival is a 2016 American science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Eric Heisserer, based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang. The film stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker with Mark O’Brien & Tzi Ma in supporting roles.
This is not a movie for all but if you are a lover of scifi then you owe it to yourself to go and watch this movie. It’s introspective, deep and very meaningful and it’s about the human experience as well. It’s a sad story on a personal level but it’s also about hope and the better future for humanity at the same time. It’s slow moving and methodical and is devoid of the usual cliches, action oriented scenes and explosions and bluster and glory that comes along with usual aliens arriving on earth type situations.
We see linguistic professor Louise Banks whose daughter dies of a rare form of incurable cancer. 12 large extraterrestrial spacecrafts arrive in our earth’s atmosphere and hover just above 12 different nations across the globe. Louise is asked by US Army Colonel Weber to join a team to find out why they have come. Accompanied by theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly, Louise makes contact with two seven-limbed cephalopod-like aliens, which they call “heptapods”, and Ian nicknames them Abbott and Costello. Louise learns that the aliens have a written language with circular shapes and symbols that are very complicated. As Louise becomes more proficient in the language, learning simple words and phrases, she starts to see images of herself with her daughter. However things get tense when she asks the aliens what they want and the reply is “offer weapon”.
Similar translations (use weapon) are deduced at other sites, leading other nations to close down communications, and some to scramble their military believing the message indicates a threat. However, Louise thinks that “weapon” might have an alternative translation such as “tool.” Explosions sneaked into the craft by rogue soldiers explode but one of the aliens saves Louise and Ian by pushing them away from the area of impact. They both wake up in the base camp with a concussion, as the spacecraft moves higher into the sky. Ian works out that the pattern of symbols relates to the concept of time, and that it was one twelfth of the whole “gift”; hence nations must co-operate to get all of the information. Tensions increase as China prepares to attack it’s alien ship. Louise goes to the US ship and it sends down a smaller craft for her. She meets Costello, who communicates that Abbott is dead due to the blast. Louise asks about her visions, and Costello explains that she is seeing the future: this reveals that her ‘visions’ are not flashbacks but flash-forwards. Costello communicates that they have come to “help humanity” by sharing their language, which changes the perception of time, and is the “weapon” or “tool” they offer. The aliens also foresee that in 3000 years time they will need humanity’s help.
When Louise returns back she finds the camp being evacuated and she sees a new vision of being a UN meeting and being greeted by Chinese General Shang who thanks him for convincing him to suspend his attack. Shang goes on to say that as she called his private number and said the same words that his wife told him before dying, he called off the attack. Louise is shown Shang’s private number and he whispers the words to her in the vision. Back in the present, Louise steals a satellite phone and calls Shang, repeating what he told her in the vision. The Chinese attack is called off and the other nations resume contact with each other, and the twelve spacecraft leave the Earth, seemingly disappearing in the atmosphere. As they pack to leave, Ian tells Louise that he has fallen for her they discuss life choices and whether they should change if you could see the future. Louise sees a vision of Ian as the father of her daughter. Her vision continues with Ian asking her, further into the future, if she wants to make a baby. Louise sees herself replying “Yes,” wanting to share a short time with her future child rather than prevent her ever from existing.
Like I said very personal and touching film in the midst of a the-aliens-are-here-do-we-attack-them kinda film. Not for everyone and that’s ok. It is a good film with an able cast and a compelling story that moved me. A 10/10 for Amy Adams while the movie gets an 8/10.
RIP Ron Glass
Ron Glass, a prolific TV actor known for playing Ron Harris in the sitcom “Barney Miller” and Shepherd Derrial Book in “Firefly,” has died. He was 71. The actor’s rep confirmed the death to Variety, but had no further details regarding the cause or location. Glass was born in Evansville, Ind. and went on to study drama and literature at the University of Evansville. He began his career in Hollywood in episodes of “Sanford and Son,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “All in the Family” in the early ’70s.
In 1975 Glass found his breakout role in “Barney Miller,” set in an NYPD station. His character was a dapper and ambitious intellectual, obsessed with launching his career as a writer. The role earned Glass a Primetime Emmy nomination in 1982 in the supporting actor category. After “Barney Miller,” Glass would go on to star in 18 episodes of the 1982 “The Odd Couple” remake “The New Odd Couple” as well as making guest appearances on “The Twilight Zone,” “Family Matters” and “Murder, She Wrote,” among other shows. In the late 1999 he appeared on two episodes of “Friends” Ross Geller’s divorce lawyer, Russell.
The science fiction community knows him best as Shepherd. In 2002 Glass joined Joss Whedon’s cult favorite “Firefly,” playing a spiritual figure with a mysterious past. Glass would also reprise the role in the 2005 movie “Serenity.” He was also in an episode of “Star Trek Voyager”. Glass was still a regular face on American television as recently as 2014 when he appeared in an episode of “CSI.” That same year he appeared in “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” as Dr. Streiten. Glass never married. He was a member of the Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist organization.
RIP Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro, the fiery apostle of revolution who brought the Cold War to the Western Hemisphere in 1959 and then defied the United States for nearly half a century as Cuba’s maximum leader, bedeviling 11 American presidents and briefly pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, died Friday. He was 90. His death was announced by Cuban state television. In declining health for several years, Mr. Castro had orchestrated what he hoped would be the continuation of his Communist revolution, stepping aside in 2006 when he was felled by a serious illness. He provisionally ceded much of his power to his younger brother Raúl, now 85, and two years later formally resigned as president.
Fidel Castro had held on to power longer than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He became a towering international figure whose importance in the 20th century far exceeded what might have been expected from the head of state of a Caribbean island nation of 11 million people. He dominated his country with strength and symbolism from the day he triumphantly entered Havana on Jan. 8, 1959, and completed his overthrow of Fulgencio Batista by delivering his first major speech in the capital before tens of thousands of admirers at the vanquished dictator’s military headquarters. He wielded power like a tyrant, controlling every aspect of the island’s existence. He was Cuba’s “Máximo Lider.” From atop a Cuban Army tank, he directed his country’s defense at the Bay of Pigs.
Fidel Castro’s religious beliefs have been a matter of some debate; he was baptized and raised a Roman Catholic, but he identified himself later in life as an atheist. He criticized use of the Bible to justify the oppression of women and Africans,[372] but commented that Christianity exhibited “a group of very humane precepts” which gave the world “ethical values” and a “sense of social justice”
Food Review #129
Chick King’s Flaming Grilled Chicken with Tortillas & Fries – nice soft & thick tortillas with the grilled chicken.
Ice Age: Collision Course
I love the Ice Age series. They are among my fav animated movies and certainly my fav franchise. But have they run their course with this, the 5th movie? Have things become stale? I didn’t think so but I believe that this was the least critically appreciated movie despite making it in the box office. My favourite is still the first one ofcourse. Ice Age: Collision Course is a 2016 American 3D computer-animated comedy adventure film produced by Blue Sky Studios. It was directed by Mike Thurmeier and co-directed by Galen Tan Chu, and written by Michael Wilson, Michael Berg and Yoni Brenner. The film stars the voice talents of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott, Jennifer Lopez and Queen Latifah, all reprising their roles from previous films.[1][7] New additions to the cast include Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Adam DeVine, Nick Offerman, Max Greenfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Rauch, Michael Strahan, Jessie J and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Scat, trying to bury his acorn, accidentally activates an abandoned alien ship that takes him into deep space, where he unwittingly sends several asteroids en route to a collision (in an awesome cartoonish silly scene) with Earth. Meanwhile, Manny is playing ice hockey with his daughter Peaches but worried about the upcoming marriage between Peaches and her fiancé, Julian. Diego and his wife Shira want to start a family but they seem to scare any and all the kids in the area. Sid is dumped by his girlfriend, Francine, just as he is about to propose to her, and he laments his solitude. Manny also forgets his wedding anniversary but an asteroid shower has the crowd initially thinking he arranged the “fireworks” show. However the animals have to soon run for cover as some of the asteroids strike the place and the herd barely escape with their lives.
Buck, who has recovered a dinosaur egg from trio of dromaeosaurs named Gavin, Gertie, and Roger. Buck discovers an ancient stone pillar and takes it to the surface, where he meets Manny and the others. As Buck explains, the pillar depicts various points in time where the asteroids caused mass extinctions and with a massive one still incoming, he believes that the only place they could find a clue to stop it is on the site of the impact of the previous ones, as according to its engravings, they always fall at the same place. The three dromaeosaurs overhear their conversation and follow them. After a long trek, as they reach the crash site and find they discover that the asteroids have electro-magnetic properties. Buck theorizes that if a huge quantity of smaller asteroids should be gathered and launched into orbit, they could attract the main asteroid as well and prevent it from falling on Earth. The herd arrives at “Geotopia”, a community of immortal animals formed inside one of the asteroids that have fallen long ago, where Sid meets Brooke, a female ground sloth who falls in love with him.
The leadero of Geotopia, Shangri Llama, efuses to cooperate with Buck’s plan to send the city’s crystals into space in order to prevent the imminent impact, as they are the key to the residents’ longevity. Sid inadvertently destroys the entire city when he attempts to remove one of the stones to present Brooke with, immediately aging all of the Geotopians to their true ages. Brooke convinces the Geotopians that preventing the asteroid’s fall is more important than their lost youth, and everyone pitches in to fill up a geyser with the crystals so that the pressure launches them into space to draw the asteroid away. The dromaesaurs intervene but Roger is able to convince the other two to help save the lives of everyone. The plan works, and the asteroid is pulled back into space. The herd then departs back home, including Sid, who parts ways from Brooke, but just after they leave, an asteroid piece falls inside a hot spring, giving it rejuvenating properties and making the Geotopians and Sid’s grandmother, who stayed behind with them, regain their youth. After the herd returns, Manny reconciles with Julian, Peaches and Julian celebrate their wedding, Diego and Shira become heroes to the kids who were scared of them before, and a rejuvenated Brooke appears during the ceremony to reunite with Sid. In the film’s epilogue, Scrat keeps struggling to control the alien ship until it crashes on Mars, destroying all life on the planet.
The film got negative reviews for it’s storyline and familiar theme of destruction of the life on earth. It ranks as the worst-reviewed film in the series. I liked it but it isn’t as good as the first 3. I will give this a 7 outta 10!
Arsenal 2 PSG 2
Arsenal face a struggle to finish top of their Champions League group after they were held to a draw by Paris St-Germain at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners were seeking the win that would put them in pole position in Group A after years of finishing second and six consecutive eliminations in the last 16 in the knockout phase. And it looked like Arsenal were on their way despite going behind early on to Edinson Cavani’s sliding finish from Blaise Matuidi’s cross. Olivier Giroud scored from a penalty just before half-time after Grzegorz Krychowiak fouled Alexis Sanchez. And Arsenal were ahead on the hour when a penalty-box rebound struck Marco Verratti and flew in.
PSG were always dangerous and Lucas’ header, which took a touch off Alex Iwobi, gave them a fully-deserved equaliser 13 minutes from time. Cavani then missed two good chances and although Arsenal and PSG are level on points, the French champions have the advantage on head-to-head away goals with one round of games left after a 1-1 draw between the teams in Paris earlier in the group. Arsenal’s inability to top their Champions League group has cost them dearly as they have failed to get past the last 16 in the past six years – and they now face the same fate again. The odds now seem stacked in favour of Unai Emery’s side, but the side that finishes top could yet end up facing the likes of Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. PSG face Ludogorets at home in their final game, the team Arsenal beat 6-0 at Emirates Stadium, while Wenger’s side travel to Basel.
There is still an opportunity for late twists but it is starting to look like second again after this enthralling draw. They will be entering familiar territory after reaching the last 16 every season in the Champions League’s current format, which has been in existence since 2003-04. Arsenal have suffered in finishing second. Those exits at the last-16 stage in the past six seasons have included two losses to Barcelona, two to Bayern Munich and one each to AC Milan and Monaco. Arsenal may not have been at their best here but they once again showed the resilience that manager Arsene Wenger believes is starting to become their trademark. Arsenal were outplayed until they got a penalty in first-half injury time and while they hardly sparkled in the second half they at least dug deep to earn a point that could yet prove vital.
Overload Alert
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” — Gertrude Stein. Do you agree?
To be truthful, yes we do get an overdose of information on a daily basis, all day long. You go online you are bombarded with information left, right and center. You cannot escape it. You go to Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, BBs, Instagram, etc etc! On your phone you are sent dozens of links on Whatsapp and other chat apps. Can you escape it?
You can either go offline or do what I do or atleast try to do. Sift through the rubble and sewage and find the things that you can really use. Delete the stuff you do not want to read. Pick and choose the news articles and materials and ensure that they are from legitimate sources or people who share legitimate sources. In the end you have to decide what you want to consume on a daily basis. Make the choice! It’s a little hard, especially with confirmation biases instilled into all of us but we have to do it.
If not you end up like a 24hr consumer of garbage, unable to decipher what is genuine and what isn’t.
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
Food Review #128
Pizza Hut’s Chicken & Corn Pizza – chicken chunks, tomatoes, corn and cheese pizza
From You to You
Write a letter to your 14-year-old self. Tomorrow, write a letter to yourself in 20 years.
Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again! Like it’s a science fiction situation and I can communicate with you from the future, so we are gonna change the timeline.
Ok, so 14 year old me, how you doin? 14 is a cool age, you don’t have too many problems and life is good. Weekends are spend in front of the tv or with your cousins. You can’t wait for the holiday breaks in August & December and the summer holidays because that means spending it with your cousins. Days spent playing football or cricket and evening spent listening to music and watching movies together.
Stay innocent and stay fresh. Go play games and sports and do not fall for that girl in the next year. Chose a different pre-degree college after that heck choose a different major altogether. Do not get caught in the blast and be very very careful. This is you from the future. I am 40 and not happy. We need to change things and you can make wiser decisions that will only benefit you in the long run. Do not make yourself a sorry, lonely guy who has a life full of regrets all these years later.
You can do it! Just stay on the path.
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
Two Dogs In Da House
Yesterday evening we had a gala time with two dogs in the apartment. My cousin sister Shalini and her husband Mukund recently adopted a Golden Retriever named Bubbles. The pup is now 6 months old and they drove from Mumbai all the way to Cochin, with stops at relatives places in Pune and Bangalore. They brought the pup over to my place.
She’s great around humans and I loved her. Apparently she is the star attraction at their apartment and in the two places they stayed enroute to Cochin. Kids were asking to play with her all the time.
My sister brought her pug Barfi to my place so the dogs can meet. Now Barfi, although 4 years old, is a bit smaller than Bubbles and seemed to be scared of her barking and the bits of growling so we kept them separate for a while and on their leash.
Soon however the pup calmed down and it was all cool enough for them to be close by. But both dogs were drained from all the excitement after an hour or so.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
I have not watched a single Harry Potter film. Well bits of the first one and a few other clips. I have no interest in getting into the Potter films. No whatsoever. With no other film to go to, I went to see Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them in the theater with my cousin yesterday afternoon. I was told that this film, a prequel would work independent of the Harry Potter films even if it were in the same universe.
A 2016 British fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film was produced and written by J. K. Rowling (in her screenwriting debut), inspired by her book of the same name. The film stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander with Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo and Colin Farrell in supporting roles. Johnny Depp has a small cameo right towards the end of the film as well.
To be honest I found myself bored through parts of the film. I am not into the magical world and filled with weird little creatures (fantastic beasts if I may) though that a Niffler (a cuter version of the platupus) was adorable! Otherwise all these amazingly though off and wonderfully & digitally created by CGI just doesn’t really work for me. I don’t even find the movie to be that memorable except for a couple of the good cast. The story of Newt Scamander who comes to New York from Britain to capture one of the magical creatures and he brings with him a magical suitcase which can expanded into another realm almost when you get inside it. So why did he bring the suitcase which can be opened by the creatures inside with him? So some can escape and we have scenes to film! At a bank he inadvertently brings in a regular human into the thick of things and their suitcases get mixed up. A witch named Tina takes Newt to MACUSA (boy that is funny) to answer for his lax attitude toward keeping magic under wraps, most notably by neglecting to wipe the memory of affable non-wizard baker Jacob.
There’s a lady, who is terribly abusive, but who runs an orphanage and who speaks out in public against witches and wizards. One of the oldest orphan is Credence Barebone who is used by Percival Graves from MACUSA to find the host of an Obscurus, a dark, brooding force created inadvertently by children who attempt to conceal their magic in fear of persecution, which is unleashed in times of anger and discomfort. Graves believes this to be the cause of mysterious occurrences of destruction in New York, and promises Credence freedom of his abusive life in Mary Lou’s orphanage. The Obscurus is responsible for killing senator Henry Shaw Jr., the son of a powerful newspaper & magazine owner, but MACUSA believes that Newt’s creatures are the guilty ones and sentences him and Tina, who tags along with him, to death. They escape and with the help of Queenie, Tina’s mind reading and deliciously flirtatious sister, and the no-maj Jacob, capture the last of the creatures, returning them to the suitcase.
Credence reveals that he was the host, and, in his rage of Grave’s betrayal and his abusive childhood, unleashes the Obscurus on New York City. Just as he begins to settle into human form, calmed down by Tina, Graves interrupts the process and Credence is killed by Seraphina and her followers, much to Tina and Newt’s despair. Graves gets angry, revealing that he was unleashing the Obscurus to reveal the magical community to the No-Majs, and that MACUSA strives to protect them rather than themselves, in which he was tired of concealing his true nature everyday. Newt, using the Revelio charm, reveals Graves to actually be Gellert Grindelwald in disguise, who is taken away to be arrested. Newt’s large bird like creature spreads a potion onto the people of the city to erase their minds of what they have seen and the MACUSA member rebuild the destroyed property using their magic. Newt leaves to Europe, and promises to return to Tina once he finishes writing a guide to magical creatures. Jacob reluctantly has his memory wiped of the wizarding world after kissing Queenie. Jacob opens a bakery shop in which the food he makes are in the shape of creatures that he remembers but not the exact events. When Queenie visits his shop, a memory seems to spark.
Yeah so there’s a lot of magical things in between some of which I liked but I just couldn’t into this world. The movie is ok but at times I was bored, like I said, and I can’t see myself watching the other 4 movies which they plan to bring out as sequels at the moment. Maybe if they also are in theatres during a dry spell of movies to watch for me. A 6.5 outta 10, 10/10 for the visual effects and a 10/10 for Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein who managed to charm me ;)
Closer Look At The Klingon Augment Ship *Star Trek Starships Collection*
A Closer Look At The Klingon Augment Ship *Star Trek Starships Collection*