Batson's Blog

Two characters in the 1980's Filmation Masters of the Universe series who were somewhat underused were King Randor and Queen Marlena --- the parents of Prince Adam/He-Man. Of course, due to them being the King and Queen of Eternia, they were fairly prominent in terms of their status.  They certainly had more appearances than someone like Ram Man or Buzz-Off, but what they contributed to those episodes was usually fairly minimal. The 2002 Mike Young Productions writing team seemed to focus a little more on Randor and Marlena --- treating them more as a king and queen, showcasing how they made decisions on Eternia and had parts in peace treaties. It was definitely a little more realistic than the more kid-friendly Filmation version. As far as costuming goes, I think Randor's depiction in MYP is the way to go over the very jester-looking depiction in Filmation. Marlena is a different story. She looks extremely bland, to me, in the MYP version. She stands out a bit ...

The rave reviews and building intrigue got to me. I went to go see Gravity . I wasn’t really sure what to expect. No bad reviews? That’s a gamble. After all, when people rave about movies, there’s a safe bet they won’t be good. Half of the movies that earn Academy Awards each year are more boring than entertaining. Meanwhile, how was a 90-minute moving going to be able to capture my attention when the focus is on an astronaut being stranded in space? Well, the reviews were right and the movie had my attention from the get go. So if you see any headlines that say, ‘ Gravity soared,’ ‘ Gravity was out of this world!,’ ‘Get pulled in by Gravity ’ or any other cheesy puns, you can probably believe them. It wasn’t the best movie ever. It was groundbreaking in a way though. It’s essentially just two actors – Sandra Bullock and George Clooney – in a weightless, soundless environment. I’m not sure how accurate their depiction of space was (moreso than Star Trek and Star ...

Thor: The Dark World was the last movie on my 2013 'must-see' list. Gravity owned the box office this weekend though. It grossed $55.6 million, making it the highest grossing opening weekend film for Sandra Bullock or George Clooney 's careers according to CNN . I've seen Facebook post upon Facebook post and tweet upon tweet, recommending that people go watch the movie. In fact, I haven't seen one negative review for it. I’m intrigued by the movie. I was ever since I saw the first preview . This movie, unlike so many others, seems to have done it right. The trailer didn't give away the entire film. In fact, it only gave away a small portion of it -- Sandra Bullock's character seemingly getting hurled into the dark abyss that is outer space. I want to know how in the world (or out of this world...) Alfonso Cuarón made an interesting movie that lasts 91 minutes and is about an astronaut being lost in space. It's not like Armageddon , where...

Wow, has this Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman story ever hit the airwaves? The beginning of last week, I didn’t know who either of them was. Now, when I type “George” into Google, the first result is “George Zimmerman.” The second is “George Clooney.” As for Trayvon? Hoodie protests are happening all over the place. It’s a sad situation all around. One person is dead. The other had to go in hiding, for fear of his life. Trayvon Martin’s family is dealing with their loss. George Zimmerman’s family has been receiving death threats. That’s a sad state of affairs. Perhaps the most disappointing thing to me is the extreme reaction people are having. On one hand it’s nice to see that people can get so passionate about something. It’s a nice reminder to politicians and government officials that the people do have power. The media does have power. They can’t get away with whatever they want. On the other hand, there are death threats and bounties being talked about. Am ...