"Fringe" get's saved by Syndication...and the GREAT and LOYAL fans who have been there since the BEGINNING!

So I found out on Thursday when the news was announced but I've been busy so it's keeping me from being on top of this but if anything I did say in my first introduction I want to at least post once a week...but it's been more than that but the expectation is once a week. But by the title you can tell the Fringe has finally been saved and will be back for single and final and better than ever season!

Now there are two different opinions to as of why Fringe has gone through being the number one drama to having little fans that are very supportive, and because of that support Fringe is getting a final season with 13 more episodes. I'd like to think even my posts have gotten Fringe the chance to stay alive. Now I can go into the details as to why this show is fantastic but I'll only hint at them: The great acting—they all, but Peter, play two different characters that are still the same. The great story telling—while it did piss me off with taking Peter out right as he and Olivia got together after being separated after he slept with Alt-Olivia and she walked away from that, but they have finally fixed it, it has been a story worth following and Fringe is the sci-fi show that set the bar for the next generation. When I'm in my dad's age, Fringe will be my kids Star Trek—not counting the fact they've rebooted the movies (ooooh, a Fringe movie would be nice...HINT HINT J.J!). The fact is this shows is just simply fantastic and from the moment when they liberated Walter from the asylum it has been growing and growing. I don't really want to go into it in full detail mostly because of the fact that I read the article by Jesse Carp on cinemablend.com and he...or she (damn dual-gender names!) did a fantastic job of explaining why it was a good thing Fox saved Fringe (http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Fox-Saves-Fringe-Why-Good-Thing-41907.html).

BUT what also needs to be considered is the fact with another 13 episodes they will reach episode 100 allowing Fringe to go into syndication and allowing Fox to make more money (Slashfilm.com)

So the argument is were they saved only for more money or because of the fans…BOTH! As Fox president Kevin Reilly says, "Fringe is a remarkably creative series that has set the bar as one of television’s most imaginative dramas. Bringing it back for a final 13 allows us to provide the climactic conclusion that its passionate and loyal fans deserve. The amazing work the producers, writers and the incredibly talented cast and crew have delivered the last four seasons has literally been out of this world. Although the end is bittersweet, it’s going to be a very exciting final chapter" (Slashfilm.com). Which is true! The cast and writers are great and the fans, while although smaller than when the show first started, are loyal and we've followed Fringe down to its Friday night change and beyond! So we do deserve to see it get completed. But like Slashfilm.com continues to say, "Not mentioned in that statement is the fact that 13 more episodes will put Fringe at the 100 episode mark, meaning it can go into syndication, a lucrative and ideal situation for any network." So they'll make more money which is nice! Plus that's not including an all five season box set they can do, or season five alone, and the money they'll make out of other stuff such as shirts and what not, speaking of which I will be getting a shirt if I can find one.

I'm just really excited that this show got picked up and I hope you are too! It may be a final season, but like I already said I love shows that get to answer all my questions, not leave me hanging for the rest of my days. Actually, in retrospect, if I was the creator of the show I would at least post how I would have liked to see the show end so the fans never get discouraged, but that's me. Shoot, maybe seeing what the writer wanted to do would rally everyone and have the show get renewed, or it may make them shut up about it going off. So, that’s a hint for someone who creates a show one day that gets cancelled before it can get to where you want it to go! Anyway, until the next exciting post, According to Michael III, LET THE FINAL FRINGE SEASON...BEGIN!

And here's the link to the trailer for season 5!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvWqOZL8JXA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

—Michael III

Overzealous much?

So I don't know if you heard or not but the producer and writer tag team duo that worked on Transformers, Star Trek, Cowboys and Aliens, and Fringe (Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci) are in the mix to re-write the script for The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Here's what's wrong about this: Amazing Spider-Man, set for a July release, hasn't even come out yet and people are still a little sketchy about a reboot so fast after the Toby McGuire days. So what’s the news, they not already have a script for a second movie written by co-writer to AMS, James Vanderbilt, but they are bringing in a couple of big names to re-write it (screenrant.com)

Anyone else think they're being a little overzealous? Because in my opinion the one thing I learned in my freshman year of high school in my film and arts class, you only make sequels if the one before it rolled in the dough and for The Amazing Spider-Man all they've done so far is dish out the dough. They're not even sure if they're going to get all their money back, yet they are already working on a 2. As a writer I know that you always have plans to do sequels but for the movie biz, you don't work on it until you know it's going to make money. Think of the film adaptations that could of had sequels but didn't because they didn't make the money—The Last Airbender and Eragon being two examples; actually The Last Airbender…the jury is still out on that one getting a sequel.

I'm planning on seeing the new web slinger but I'm still shaky on the reboot and with a film company that already threw away a lot of confidence they should probably wait before jumping on the next train. I mean Screenrant.com even says that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are already signed on to come back to reprise their roles and if it was any other super hero movie I would say more power to them but when you have a lot of pissed fans about the drop of Kirster Dunst and Toby McGuire, who in my opinion still is and will always be THE perfect Peter and Spider-Man, they shouldn't just rush all in.

Yes they'll make money but just how much is the question. I don't know, I guess we'll wait and see what they do with the "untold story of Peter Parker." As it is Universal is actually already talking to MIB3 screenwriter David Koepp to write the script for a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (Geektyrant.com)—another great looking moving I'm planning on seeing but seriously apparently everyone in Hollywood looks to a sequel before the first one even comes out. Normally that should only work for books so we’ll see if we’re in the midst of the current times changing. Well until next time, According to Michael III, overzealous much?

—Michael III

"Letters of Transit" "Fringe" TV Recap: A possible season 5 set up? (SPOILER ALERT!)

So I was trying to keep from doing any more recaps, and for those of you that have been following what I have to say you know for about a week or so I did a lot of really crappy recaps so I told myself no more unless they're for season beginners, and season/possible series finales. Speaking of which I'm going to cap the f-ed up season finale of Psych because I finally watched it and if you have too you’re probably like me:

Trippin!

But back to Fringe. So this week’s episode opened up a lot of questions one that will sub category them all: Is this a possible set up for Season 5? If you read my post a few days ago on Fringe being prepared in case they get cancelled you know about the double season finales they have filmed just and will show depending on the fate of the TV show. But after Friday, I can’t even believe they’re considering cancelling this awesome show. They have a finale taped to set it up for a season five or for a series ender but Friday night’s episode makes me think they were setting it up a little bit there as well.

Friday’s episode went twenty four years into the future where the Observers are no longer observing but controlling us. Why? Whomever the higher being in Fringe only knows. But apparently our lovable team was able to go ahead and create a way of getting rid of the Observers for good, but they were ambushed before they got the chance and Dr. Bishop froze them all in amber. Believing they were dead the world moved on and Fringe division was made into the police force for the enslaved humans.

One Agent of the Fringe division happens to have a contact who found Dr. Bishop. She is also revealed to have a power to keep the Observers from reading her mind; sound like any other “Super powered” blonde female heroine we know? Before her contact can tell her where the rest of team is he's killed. Together, she and her leader, Simon, wake up Dr. Bishop but his mind is off because of being so close to the amber explosion. Paying a visit to Nina they go back to the old Massive Dynamic building which is in "the city" to use the old pieces of Walter’s brain to repair him. I kept asking why “the city” was so bad...and that's when you find out that there are a lot of Observers in the city. I thought there were only Twelve since the one that kept helping the team was named September, man I was wrong.

But they use the old pieces of Walter’s brain to bring him back and, like anyone who was watching this episode would have guessed, the rest of the team is in the old university building. But what people don't expect is in the rest of the amber they find Astrid, Peter...and William Bell. Olivia is nowhere to be seen and after they leave with Peter and Astrid, Astrid asks a really puzzling question about William Bell.

"How could you just leave him? We need him Walter."

"You know what he did to Olivia, not even you are that compassionate. Besides we got all we need." And that's when he shows her he severed Bell’s right hand from the amber. But--WOAH! Not only is Bell alive but he did something so bad to Olivia Walter is unforgivably pissed. Anyway other than that the episode ends with a compassionate hug when Peter realizes the agent that helped him is his and Olivia's daughter, Henrietta Bishop. So the question remains: Is this a possible season 5 set up?

Here's why I'm lost if it is:

1. Bell is alive!

· His consciousness was supposed to be wiped last season so why the heck is suddenly alive!? And with a body!?

2. Olivia is gone.

· You can't have Fringe without her but I'm pretty sure that the new season would take place with them hopefully stopping this future and September coming to help them along the way.

3. Leading to this: Where is September!?

· Walter hints at the fact that September was the one that told him about what the Observers do in the future. So what happened? Last time we saw him he was telling Peter he was home then he vanished like Batman on steroids. So where did he go?

4. Henrietta "Etta" Bishop: What the heck happened to Henry!?

· Obviously the names are similar but September said Henry was born to the wrong Olivia Denim implying they were supposed to have a son no-matter-what? But the timeline has been changed and as I guessed, Olivia and Peters baby is a super baby like John Connor of the Terminator series. So what's going on with that?

All I know is it was a good opened questioned episode and I feel like they're pulling a Ben Ten type deal; where there are many different realities to their future but only one at the current time is the "true" reality. Maybe the Observers were really trying to make sure the events that create them happened. Who knows? I really won’t worry about it as long as FRINGE gets picked up! Anyway, until the next exciting post, According To Michael III, there are so many questions with great potential for great stories.

—Michael III

JB and One Direction: Millions of little girls are drooling

“Can the Internet handle the collision of the UK boy band’s fans with Beliebers” (Idolator.com)?

Sssssh! Listen! Can you hear it? What? You can’t hear that? Are you kidding me? Wow, I can’t believe you can’t hear it! What is it that I’m hearing that you ask? Well it’s the sound of a billion shrieking girls as they all jump up and down nearly knocking the world out of orbit as they all become excited for the impossible! One Direction and Justin Bieber have teamed up to do a song for JB’s new album Believe. That’s right, as of last week, both JB and members of 1D have tweeted about the hook up of a life time. Something that would have been highly anticipated like Prince and Michael Jackson, but unlike that suggestion, this one is actually happening.

“In the studio with our boy @justinbieber last night, it’s gona sound great,” 1D member Niall Horan tweeted last week and, “Got a first listen to Justin Bieber’s new album yesterday wow big songs!!! It’s funna be a smash … Expect the unexpected,” One Direction member Liam Payne also wrote on Twitter” according to Idolator.com. The tweets were left and right as they continually promoted and talked about the song they all got together to do. And if any of the girls who are in love with the Canadian born kid missed what was happening, they didn’t when Bieber responded to Liam’s post with a “Thanks buddy. Good chillin with u guys” (Idolator.com)

For those of you that don’t know who One Direction is, they are the new boy band coming out of the UK with their debut album Up All Night. They are the first non-American band to have their first album hit #1 hit on the top 200 Billboard (Wikipedia.com and KCA’s) and as usual girls are suckers for cute faces and wonderfully written songs. But I’m a fan of 1D myself. The boys can sing, and I know that for a fact because I first heard them when they sang live on the KCA’s and I like their lyrics. But for those of you that think I’m a whack job, 1D was brought together at the auditions for the UK version of The X Factor. They were auditioning as solos but they all failed to get into the competition in the “Boys” category. It was guest judge Nicole Scherzinger who decided they form a group and they ended up qualifying for the “Group” category and on Simon Cowell’s team. They were his last act and the boys ended up qualifying for third place (Wikipedia.com). From there they reached success in the UK as they toured with other participants of The X Factor after being singed to Syco Records. It wasn’t until they were announced to be touring with Big Time Rush for a February through March tour that they reached international success. They were signed to Columbia Records here in America and their first single “What Makes you Beautiful” was released, and from that point on there was only one direction to go, UP!

For those of you that can appreciate all kinds of music like I can I encourage you to listen to this album because it is phenomenal. From what it seems like for most people they’ve only heard “What Makes You Beautiful” when the other songs on the albums are just as good or even better. Songs like “Gotta Be You” is a very powerful ballad that allows the guys to just use their voices to let that girl know there is nobody else. Their other single “One Thing” is also another fantastic hit that says there is just something you got. Other songs hit the spot with “I Wish” and the Kelly Clarkson written “Tell Me a Lie” which, if you know Clarkson’s music, it definitely sounds like something she would sing only with guy voices. For me I was raised in a boy band house with my mom and sister and to me good boy bands can reach both sexes. The songs they sing for the girls have the effect of “I wish a guy would sing this to me;” much like every girl said when Bruno Mars brought out “Just The Way You Are” (trust me, before I heard that song, and liked it, all the girls on my Facebook posted that like every day; it got annoying.) But for the boys they have the message, “I wish I could sing this to a girl.” At least that’s how it was in my generation, now boys are saying what the girls use to say and girls are saying what the guys use to say. So you can never tell. But for me, songs like these are the kind of cheesy songs I like to sing to my wife in my rotation with old N Sync, 98 Degrees, and Backstreet Boys songs. They were the songs I would sing to her when we were dating like N Sync’s “That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You,” Backstreet Boys “Incomplete,” and 98 Degrees “My Everything.” In fact, I told my wife, 1D reminds me of the Backstreet Boys from back in the day and TBB was actually my favorite out of the Boy bands from the 90’s and early 2000’s.

But JB’s “Boyfriend” (which if you say that without the quotations will make you laugh) continually blazes the charts and I can’t turn on the radio without at least hearing 1D’s “What Makes You Beautiful” being on at least three times a day. What is it with American girls and songs that talk about being beautiful; do they really have that low of self-esteem? Eh, that’s not entertainment so who cares!? I’m looking forward to JB’s new album and the song he did with 1D. I was telling one of my sisters-in-law yesterday that if they ever went on tour together that they would have to build larger concert halls in major cities. Or at least stay in that city long enough for all the fans to go see them because if there is one thing this world loves, it’s pretty boys who sing and dance and about love just as much as we love women who know how to sing and shake their hips as they talk about us being the one they want to give their innocence too. That’s right America; we’re that F-ed up! It going to be interesting to see what the Simon Cowell and Usher mentored boys come up with. But until we can hear ourselves think over the shrill of the girls, According to Michael III, Up All Night is just the beginning of a good direction for the music biz. Check out some back in the days songs from the boy bands I listed.

—Michael III

“My Everything” 98 Degrees—wonderful song, it’s my favorite from them and the song I sang to my wife the most when we were dating besides probably “That’s When I’ll Loving You”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz2lyq7kGms&ob=av2n

“That’s When I’ll Loving You” N Sync—sounds like a terrible title until you actually listen to the song and it makes sense because we all know that it is impossible for all of that stuff to happen so it’s basically saying “I’m loving you forever” and in a world where we have so much heartbreak, failed relationships and divorce, we need a little more songs like this. Sorry, but no video for this, only singles get videos and this is a song you only heard if you were a fan, not a “Single” (Someone who only listens to the singles of bands or singers.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPbtfDyUcZc

“Incomeplete” Backstreet Boys—Ex-member Kevin Richardson's wrote it after losing his father but it still has the same message of what a guy feels when they lose that special girl, so it works for any kind of loss. The critics may have hated it, but fans will tell you it’s one of their best songs. It’s probably the first song people think of when they hear Backstreet Boys, then after that it’s “I Want it That Way.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVe80iZtlYU&ob=av2e

Enjoy!

—Michael III

"Fringe" is prepared, and I'm finally happy!

What a great decision! Finally a TV show that is not going to piss me off. See, for those of us that follow the shows that are clear genius but no one else watches because they don’t have time or they don’t like the storyline, we know that our show is always in danger of being bumped off so we make sure that we constantly watch the new episodes as soon as we can so the ratings don’t go down. And with the social media network nowadays, we also speak up and tell everyone we can about the show so that way we make sure that they get watched. But what bugs me to no end is the fact that when writers and producers of the show know that they’re probably going to get cancelled or they’ve already heard the sound off, they always let the season/series end with a huge cliffhanger making you pissed off for the rest of your days because you never get to know what happens next. Shows that do that always upset me and I’m mad at the ending because I want more and I want…no I NEED to know what happens next but the station made a final decision already and that’s that.

Shows that have left me hanging are shows like:

· Heroes—Clair exposes them to the world in the season/series finale by jumping off a Ferris wheel in front of cameras. They had already set up an X-Men like theme with the carnival people wanting to be better than normal humans so why end it there!? Here’s hoping that another writer’s strike doesn’t “ruin” Touch. But I liked Heroes all the way until the ending, except for volume Four: Fugitives when Nathan acts like a punk. But Heroes and Touch were both created by Tim Kring and they’re both fantastic shows. Many people believed that the writers’ strike ‘ruined’ Heroes but I don’t believe that. But here’s to hoping another strike doesn’t happen.

· Flashforward—OH MY GOSH! For those of you that watched the show you know that it had a lot of questions and when another blackout happens at the ending while Mark is trying to run out of the FBI building that’s about to explode and his daughter years later is saying “They found him” you’re like, WTF!? But no, they’re cancelled so you don’t get to know where the world is going from there after seeing their futures’ again.

· V—Seriously I don’t even need to say much about this, Anna almost dies and the little hybrid girl is somehow able to bliss all the humans in the world, Lisa watches as her replacement sleeps and kills the boy she loves and Erica is the only human not blissed as more ships appear to enslave the human race…and that’s it! FAIL! You don’t end with a cliffhanger like that, it’s just cruel. So. Many. Questions!

· No Ordinary Family—It finishes with them finally figuring out how they got their powers, the quick Cancer killing of Dr. King, and the next experiment releases a bunch of now super powered dangerous criminals into the world. “Sidekick” George may finally have some powers himself because he was accidently on the plane that carried the formula. The Government shows up to the Powell house letting them know they know who the family is and what they can do and the government needs their help. Setting it up for a more action packed season two and they dropped it. It was totally a live action Incredibles but as usual people want the crap that’s filled with sex and not the good wholesome family stuff. (sigh) Oh well.

· Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior—Pssssh, that season/series finale was just as explosive as all the Criminal Minds’ season enders are, and this one was just as surprising as the one when Garcia got shot. You don’t know if they made it in time or what!?

· Sym-bionic Titan—Ended with Octus coming back and them showing the world they’re here to help. Made Octus tell Kimmy he’d be home soon but that was it. Tartakovsky had ten more episodes but Cartoon Network didn’t pick them up, and they should have been because all the other shows on CN suck, besides Young Justice.

It’s terrible that shows a lot of the times will just leave it up to you to decide how the story ends and it’s horrible. I’m a writer, but sometimes a story that belongs to another writer I would like to see them finish it because they know the characters better than me. I’m not someone who likes the season-comics they have after the show ends like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer or the Angel: After the Fall or Smallville comics. But what I do like is this:

Fringe has decided to shoot two finales to this season’s ender depending on if they get picked up or not.

Lance Reddick who plays Agent/Colonel Broyles let it slip that they had shot the two different finales. “‘Something happens at the very, very end of the season finale,’ he said. ‘It may or may not stay; I don’t know. It could open up an entire new season.’ Reddick continued, ‘It could be a cliffhanger, but the thing that’s beautiful about the way that the season ends is that it seems to answer almost all the questions that started in Season 1… except for that one story’” (Slashfilm.com). Whatever “that one story” could be I have no idea. But the fact that they created two different ends excites me.

Many of you may freak out because you think everyone is counting them out, but I don’t. Because if anything this gives Fox a better chance at seeing what they want to do with Fringe. “Reddick let it slip to Zap2It that they’ve shot two different endings — one a proper series finale, one a more cliffhanger-y setup for Season 5” (Slashfilm.com). Depending on how they go Fox can either say, “Ooh, this next story looks exciting, we’ll give it a shot,” or they’ll say, “Alright, I think it can end here.” They’re going to see the episodes before anyone else does which will allow them to make an informative decision because they’ll have enough information to choose right because too many time shows get cancelled just because of the ratings are low. Much like when Josh Whedon tried to force WB to renew Angel and they decided to cancel them.

People aren’t going to agree with the show all the time, not all stories are going to make you feel all warm and tingly inside so when a writer takes it some place, take the ride as well until they get the chance to go back to where they were trying to take you and where you started. It’s like my mom not wanting to continue to watch the old episodes of Angel just because of the fact Wesley isn’t part of the group right now. Guess what mom, not watching the episodes isn’t going to change the fact Wesley isn’t on the team, but here’s a shocker, watching them will! If you want a show to get back to what you want it to be then go ahead and b***h about it all you want, maybe the writers and producers will hear you somehow; but still watch it so that way they can get there. Geesh! Don’t just say, “Well, screw them!” and leave it all alone not even giving them a chance. Everyone deserves to be redeemed, even TV’s and Movies.

But I’m excited mostly because if they do decided to go ahead and end Fringe which I hope they don’t, it’s a fantastic show and we need more shows that have drama but don’t melt your brain at the same time like ABC’s Scandal or NBC’s The Playboy Club; we’ll get to see a proper ending not an “Oops, we messed up sorry, we should have known have done something else just in case.” If anything if they haven’t made the decision by May 11^th and they cancel them ex post facto, then on the season four DVD and Blu-Ray they’ll at least release the alternate ending for people to see.

So here’s to hoping they make a decision at least before May 11^th so I’m not pissed for several months. Although, Slashfilm.com says, “But Fringe fans shouldn’t take the producers preparedness as a bad sign. In fact, Zap2It says it’s ‘likely’ the series will get a final, 13-episode fifth season to wrap things up.” Even that’s not good enough to me; I want Fringe to end on its own terms like Smallville or Scrubs the first time before they did Med School.

With tonight’s episode about the Observers enslaving the human race I’m just geeking out and I can’t believe that Fox is even considering cancelling the show; but until we hear what the answer is, According to Michael III, this just shows how intelligent the writers of Fringe are. They’re getting prepared!

—Michael III

Brony's and talk about "Bully" "A Guy, A Girl, and A Podcast" Episode 13 and 14 review (SPOILER ALERT!)

Okay, so first thing is first. I’m sorry Brandon, but you’re a Brony. Anyway, for those of you who have now listened to last weeks and this week’s episode of “A Guy, A Girl, and A Podcast” you know the current theme topic they talked about was Bully thanks to the new movie Bully and the Frienemies app on Facebook.

Not much has changed for these two crazy lovers and their wonderful producer Anthony…except Anthony was missing this week and there was a lot of giggling and getting off topic which happens when GGP is on, but like I said in the recap where I was interviewed they cut out a lot, but I don’t think they did this week. Without Anthony we get to hear everything that these two do and that’s okay because it’s awesome and it shows that they’re just like us. We all make mistakes and we’re not perfect and sometimes when people are out there in the lime light they try to act like they are but it’s cool that these two don’t care what people think unless they’re the type of people who believe the Frienemies app is a good idea.

So apparently with this app on Facebook it’s supposed to somehow stop cyber bulling because of instead of going and making fun of the person on the internet, you’re doing it in this app where you can all vent about the different things that have happened. It’s basically a venting room is what I got, to keep people from antagonizing the person. Problem is, whether the person sees it or not, it’s still bullying them. “Damn Cheese! I hate you!” Great, you just hurt Cheeses’ feelings.

But this and the movie Bully which got an ‘R’ rating at first but was dropped to a ‘PG-13” once they pulled three of the F-bombs was the highlight of the two podcast…and The Hunger Games once again, but it’s awesome, so who cares. In my opinion though, Bully was trying to show how terrible bullying is and dropping F-bombs when kids do say that kind of crap is totally pointless. Brandon and Cristina talked about the MPAA’s rating system and how they and other people have talked about the fact the MPAA should reevaluate. Like this movie; a documentary that’s supposed to get a powerful message across should be shown for what it is, not be punished because of the fact there is cussing. The sooner we stop acting like kids are so innocent, the sooner kids will stop acting out just to prove they’re not innocent, am I right? I want to see Bully and I get paid this Friday so I may pull some money off to the side to go see it.

Other topics have been Brandon and Cristina’s brother watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which is surprisingly created by the wife of Craig Mckracken—Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends AND (since I don’t think Brandon knew this because he didn’t mention it) The Powerpuff Girls and worked on Dexter’s Laboratory as a director—and she actually worked on Foster’s herself and that was just a fantastic show all around and needs to be put on Netflix because I know I missed some episodes. Brandon likes the show…and I think I’m dying with Anthony, the only way I’ll watch the show is when my little girl is born, but until then I think I’ll stick to watching shows that are for guys. There’s nothing wrong with watching younger kids shows, I watch Go Diego Go, from time to time…but that’s still a guy show and that’s all I have to say about that.

Hopefully Cristina will have finished all The Hunger Games by next week same with Brandon so they can talk about what they expect to happen next. And you can do it you two, trust me, I read the whole series in one week. Seven days, three books, you do the math. But that’s it, sorry it couldn’t be two separate articles but I’ve been running around lately so I haven’t had time to listen…and that’s because they need to raise the volume.

You see, because I do run around a lot I put the podcast on my phone and try to listen to them in the car, but the sound quality, and I’m sorry to say this guys, is bad. Raise the volume so when I’m driving 70 down the freeway or 35 on the surface streets I can hear you speak and not only your laughing because you’re laughing is loud I can hear that clearly, but either talk louder or have Anthony raise the volume. I like listening to you guys, but I want to hear you on the road too, not just at home. And even at home the quality is still soft, so pick it up, because I know you guys can. You’re fantastic.

But other than that, this is me signing off and until next time, According to Michael III, Brandon is a Brony. OH! And the new acronym (GGP) comes from Brandon himself and I thank him for that because it’s so much easier to type than AGAGAAP…yep so much easier. Anyway, later and subscribe to them for free on iTunes and get new episodes when they come out. Or download the free Stitcher app and enjoy them there. Also follow them on Twitter @guygirlpodcast or on Facebook at “A Guy, A Girl, and A Podcast.”

—Michael III

Project Glass

Geektyrant is making fun of the idea coming from possibly Dragonball Z but Google is actually working on a new project that will apparently "make smart phones obsolete and placing the technology right in front of your eyes. That's right, they're creating a hands free device that gives computer readings directly to your eyes" (Geektyrant.com).

I thought this would be a ridiculous idea; my mom said that people would have more accidents but from what the video shows it would be a controlled "eye" phone that hopefully would shut off for only phone calls when you're on the road. Watching the video changed my mind about the idea but that would be some serious tech. What do you think? At least, like Geektyrant said, "The coolest part about this? You'll never have to wonder again when someone's power level is OVER 9000!" here's the link and you check out the video yourself and the joke. But until next time, According to Michael III, this maybe a pretty sweet idea. At least there would be no more texting in theaters since you have to talk to it to send the message and if I heard someone whispering “send message” I just might punch them in the face. But I wear glasses, and just like I liked the idea of a phone and music player all in one instead of carrying both, having all three on my face and activated with my voice would be nice an completely awesome, and I could see everyone’s power levels!

—Michael III

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/4/5/google-brings-phone-to-eyes-with-project-glass.html

Let the Force be UNLEASHED!

Do you have a favorite video game? Oh please, that's a dumb question, most people do, duh! But I guess the question would be who is your favorite video game character that you would love to see be on the big screen!? Yeah that's a good question all right (and a bit of a mouth full).

So here’s the deal, according to Slashfilm.com, "These days we’re left with Res­i­dent Evil movies that are tan­gen­tial­ly relat­ed to the games at best. What’s a fan to do if they want to see their favorite video game char­ac­ter out­side of their Xbox? The answer is YouTube and the world of fan films. We’ve already seen a Por­tal fan film explode across the Inter­net, a solid series of Mor­tal Kom­bat films and now anoth­er pop­u­lar char­ac­ter has got his due. Olan Rogers has made a $700 fan film called Mega Man X that push­es its mea­ger bud­get to its lim­its with a fun recre­ation of a game series many of us grew up with and loved."

Now for me, I haven't check out Mega Man X yet, but I was a fan of the games they have brought out in my generation from Gameboy Color and up. So this article got me thinking, if you had the $700.00 to make a film, and all the other equipment Rogers did ("two green sheets, an amaz­ing prop maker, two actors who worked for free because I didn’t have enough money to pay them, they still gave 110% and one awe­some friend who bust­ed his butt on the ani­ma­tion side..."[Mega Man X's YouTube page]) what video game character would you be bringing to life? My answer would be Star Killer from The Force Unleashed games; one and two. The reason why would be because my parents never allowed me to play a game where you're an evil character, but I was a major Star Wars fan and still am, so when someone told me Starkiller becomes good in the ending (IF you choose that path) that was how I was able to convince my parents to let me play...well my mom anyway, my dad was saying yes because of the fact it was a Star Wars game and he’s the one that got me into the series in the first place.

But Star Killer was a great character and if you have no idea what I'm talking about you suck for not playing the highest grossing Star Wars games ever, unless you're just not a fan of Star Wars which I can understand. It's over played nowadays, even fans know that. But he had a great story line from the fact he was the son of a Jedi that had gotten away from Order 66, which let us know that not all the Jedi in the Universe except Obi-Wan and Yoda were weak so that was a good start, and that Darth Vader finds him to make him as his apprentice to one day overthrow the Emperor, which of course we know doesn't happen but it's interesting to see that they say Star Killer is the one that creates the Rebels since they end up using his family crest to rally behind. “A Symbol of hope,” Princess Leia Organa says in the ending cinematic if you chose the Light Side of the Force. Then the second game got all complicated and sets it for a third game I'm told, I wouldn't know. I got into WOW (World of Warcraft, for you non savvy online gaming people) around the time the second came out and haven't finished it yet, but I will if there is a third one on the way. But a movie, even a crappy CGI one like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, (which I'm getting back into) would be sweet!

I'm telling you what though; I'm going to watch this Mega Man X to see if it can pull through as a movie to someone who doesn't know the games so well. But honestly, we all want to see our favorite characters on the big screen and not too many make it and those that do suck; i.e. 20th Century Fox's 2009 Dragonball: Evolution, which I haven't seen also but critics hated it; haven't asked any fans though. I'll have to watch it myself; generally the "crappy" movies end up on Netflix faster. But here's the link if you want to check out the Mega Man movie for yourself also and you can let me know what you think in the comments below. But until I talk about the movie later, According To Michael III, some fans may be a little frantic, but fans know best.

—Michael III

http://www.slashfilm.com/mega-man-x-olan-rogers-700-mega-man-fan-film/

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors!

Talk is suddenly high as everyone is wondering one simple question that they have been wondering since 2009: Will Disney make an animated Marvel movie?

Slashfilm.com is reported saying, "When the deal was announced, CEO Bob Iger mentioned that they 'talked about this internally' and that Pixar head John Lasseter had already 'talked to the Marvel guys' about possibilities 'and they all got excited about it.' Nothing was announced, but Iger concluded saying 'We think there’s ultimately some exciting product that come of that. Sparks will fly!'" Sounds pretty cool right? Think about it. Marvel is the leading in superheroes right now with The Avengers coming out this May and plans to do two more along with an Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and Captain America 2 to help those movies along, AND non-Avengers related, an X-Men: First Class 2 they are raking in the dough and I'm pretty sure we can see that having Disney own them has helped them get the money to make those high grossing movies. Even Geektyrant agrees, "When Disney bought Marvel we all saw what the possibilities would be, both the negative and the positive. Since Marvel was acquired we've heard a lot of rumors, but we're seeing some great things coming from it both with movies and TV." The TV side of that being shows like The Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes and Ultimate Spider-Man. But although the rumors have been circulating they have never been higher as of now.

In July Blue Sky Disney posted on their blog something that stirred a few geeky souls, "That project, once announced will generate a lot of buzz in certain geek communities, as it’s going to surprise a lot of people for what it is and what it’s not. But it’s in the very early embryonic stage and it depends on how well the project is received upon the presentation that is being prepared for John [Lasster] and Ed [Catmull]" (Geektyrant.com). And there they were again, the same two big names from Disney! But then last week they posted something else, "The projects competing for 2014/2015 are the uber-secret film from Don Hall, which will be a marvelously unexpected project if it ever gets the green light, and Nathan Greno and Byron Howard’s films which are deep in development" (Geektyrant.com). And like Geektyrant goes on to say, "'Marvelously unexpected' huh? I don't think that was an accident. I think it is just giving us a big wink that this movie, which is 'going to surprise a lot of people', is going to be some kind of Marvel animated feature film, we just don't know what it will include." Which is completely true, Disney has been at the forefront of surprising the families of the world for generations, and they took that a step further with buying Marvel in the first place. But here's the thing, I don't think Stan Lee is going to allow any of his heroes to become animated unless its only for a TV show, so I don't think they'll be picking out of the gene pool Marvel already has for an animated movie. I already said Disney has to do something new since they basically covered all the princess and prince movies they could with "Tangled"……but then they created "Brave" so I guess I was wrong. This is what seems to be going down according to Geektyrant, "Hall is working on some kind of crossover with Marvel, but it’s not an adaptation of an actual comic book or character that already exists. The comment makes sense if it’s an all-new Marvel movie, created in collaboration with Disney. That would surprise for what it is – a Disney-Marvel superhero film – and also for what it’s not – a known Marvel property."

I really don't know where they're going to go with all of this and since it's supposed to either come out in 2014/2015 we're looking at possibly seeing a teaser mid or late next year about it. But it's going to be completely hand drawn as of right now because Pixar doesn't seem to want to be in it. "We thought at one point Pixar might team up with them, but the studio shot that rumor down" (Geektyrant.com). John Lasster said, "No, Pixar, we are -- Disney has been great. Bob Iger is phenomenal. I'm Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation as well, and with Pixar it's like, 'Keep doing what you're doing, guys.' It's a filmmaker-driven studio. All of the ideas come from the filmmakers themselves. Working with the filmmakers on ideas. He was then asked, 'So there probably wouldn't be any kind of chance of seeing that kind of team-up Then?' 'No, not at Pixar. We have The Incredibles, so we've done superheroes here ourselves and so we have that kind of history with Brad Bird doing The Incredibles.'. And The Incredibles was great and it sickens me Cars got a sequel but not The Incredibles and now they're making a Monster's Inc. prequel when I would really like to see what happens to Boo!

(Sigh), well I'm excited and I can't wait to see what's coming from the minds of two great power houses in entertainment! But until more is leaked, According to Michael III, this movie is going to be one major bad a**!

—Michael III

SEXY VOICE! Recap on :A Guy, A Girl, and A Podcast, Episode 12: "According to Michael III."

Well since they haven’t posted episode 13 yet, I guess I’m better late than never. But, my goodness if you love my writing then you'll love my voice! I sounded extremely sexy on last week’s episode of "A Guy, A Girl, and A Podcast," According to Michael III. The last time I heard my voice was on a recording for a song I wrote for my Junior AP English project when I wrote a rap for it...yes I know, stereotypical black kid—there was a time I wanted to be a rapper. But anyway, I sound gorgeous on that recording...okay I'm joking, but it was cool to hear my voice again.

If you noticed, last week’s episode of AGAGAAP was probably the shortest; no I think it was. And that's my fault so I apologize for that, I was constricted for time and when we were going to start we had some technical difficulties which led us to starting a lot later so we had to rush. AGAGAAP called me in for a repay for the nice review I gave them the week before and talked to me a little about my blog...but if you already follow me you know whatever I have to say anyways.

But let me tell you, you think listening to them is fun, watching them do it live is even better because trust me after being there and listening to it afterwards, they definitely edited a lot of their mistakes out, but it was cool seeing them do it live, in fact I loved it! Brandon, The Guy, once told me he would like to do it live one day and I think they should definitely go for it because it's a totally different experience and it's a great experience.

This week, beside me, they talked about Bagel Hockey which if they ever call me to play with them I will because it was cool hearing about it, and I got to see a video beforehand of them actually playing it and it looked fun. But seriously, great idea. Like Christina, The Girl, says, "Dude...Bagel Hockey!"

Simple as that.

And they also got to talk about a Geekapoloza and that was interesting to hear about as well. I'll have to go next year and write about it. They also wanted to talk about an article that has Facebook allowing you to have an enemies app? I didn't hear much about it and they didn't get the chance to talk about it but they will the next episode, I hope, and I'm going to look up this article because Facebook is entertainment in its own way and I'm against cyber bullying and bullying in general so if they're allowing you to make a list of people you hate that's not cool.

But we'll have to see what that's all about in the next episode. Until the next post, According to Michael III, AGAGAAP needs to go live as soon as they can. But they want more fans that they know will come watch so subscribe to them on iTunes or the Stitcher APP and follow them on twitter @guygirlpodcast, or on Facebook under A Guy, A Girl, and A Podcast. Woop Woop!

—Michael III

P.S.

Just looked it up, Episode 13, Alex Libby and the Battle of the MPAA, is up…

No idea what this episode will contain but I’m excited now (And they are going to talk about that Facebook thing)! Look for my recap and other post about entertainment!

—Michael III

Solar Flare: I SAY LEGIT!

So for those of you that listen to this weeks "A Guy, A Girl, and A Podcast" you know I was interviewed slightly. We were running out of time so it didn't get to go as long as all three of us would have liked, but you can read about that later tomorrow when I recap the episode. But if you already listened to the episode you know we got to talking about possibly the best but worst April's Fool’s Joke ever! Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Collins getting together to write a script that would make a movie that would combine The Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games. According to Moviepilot.com, "The premise? Why what could be more simple than The Cullen clan discovering that they've been sent to the dystopian future pictured in the Hunger Games world of Panem. The culprits? The Volturi of course. As obvious outsiders, the Cullens (including Bella) are seen as revolutionaries and are forced immediately to compete in the titular Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen, the ever-compassionate character she is, once again volunteers to compete in the games to help out these strangers knowing that they'll need more than their vampiric abilities to survive!" Sounds legit right? I mean think about it, the Cullens are immortal making it completely possible they survived whatever tragedy that caused Panem to be created. And who else would love to see humans slaughter themselves or be in the right state of mind, because they're unaffected by whatever tragedy happened, to take power and rebuild society back up in their own twisted image? The Volturi. And think about the fact that Ceasar Flickerman never ages, or that President Snow doesn't really either...maybe instead of incredible plastic surgery, they're actually Vampires? And the idea that Katniss would need to help them because the hunger games are too tough for the power of the humane vampires is genius!

I'll tell you what, at first I was believing it until this: "Starring Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Lawrence, Whoopi Goldberg, Kristen Stewart and Josh Hutcherson" (Moviepilot.com).
...anyone else see Whoopi's name in there? I was all like whaaaaaaaat? But I kept going and this was where I realized it was an April Fool’s joke: "The crux of the matter? Goldberg is reportedly playing Edward and Bella's all-grown-up daughter Renesmee, making a huge change from the previous actress, Mackenzie Foy. After writers Collins and Meyer took to their websites to say that the casting of Goldberg has been a mutual decision—a total sister act and not a coercion by the studio—the fans seemed to calm down somewhat and agreed to give the 56 year-old actress a chance at playing Bella's reportedly teenage daughter" (Moviepilot.com). Yeah, NOOOOOT! But they were going to call the movie Solar Flare. That's a great title in my opinion and Moviepilot does too; "It's the perfect mix of Meyer's lunar leanings and Collins's flaming prose. It gives us a hint at the story, too. Could the Volturi be motivated by an upcoming Solar Flare?" Who knows? I was all excited, I am a Twilight Fan and a Hunger Games fan, but Collins is far the better writer.

But I also saw this as a bad idea too. Because like I just said, Collins is a better writer. Meyer goes into too many details to describe that the sky is blue by over using adjectives. When New Moon came out I tried reading the first two books again and couldn't, I honestly don't know how I read them all the first time and I don't believe she's a great writer. She has good ideas, but she doesn't have the creativity to write the actual book herself. So I was thinking why would Collins saddle herself with Meyer? It would totally ruin her story telling, unless Meyer came up with the ideas and left the story telling to Collins.

Honestly I would like to actually see this, even if it doesn't make it to the big screen and they just do a simple animated comic movie or something. But they did get me to believe this was all real until Whoopi came into the picture. But it was a good joke but those of you that are fans of both series or are writers with open minds; can you tell me if you think it's legit as well? Here's the extremely long article link if you want to read it all yourself:
http://moviepilot.com/movies/44466-the-hunger-games/articles/386339-exclusive-all-the-info-on-stephenie-meyer-and-suzanne-collins-s-solar-flare?utm_campaign=april-fools-solar-flare&utm_source=fb-stream-post&utm_medium=fb-stream-post

Anyway, until the next article, According to Michael III, if it was real, I'd give "Solar Flare" a chance.

—Michael III

Titanic 3D: What's the point?

Okay, so let me start this out like this, this post is coming from me, Michael III, who until last night had never seen Titanic. Really over protective parents so the nudity was a block to me, but after seeing it, the nudity wasn't that big of a deal so I'm kind of mad that they made me wait until I was older. And although I turn 20 this year, I just never felt the need to watch it but I thought it would be nice to see with my wife...who also has never seen it, which I found out after the movie, and neither one of us liked it.

Besides what I think about the story line, let me start my critical analysis with the hype about it coming back out in 3D. There shouldn't have been anything about the 3D because all there was of the 3D was the fact it looked beautiful. The movie should have focused more on being digitally Re-mastered because it was picture perfect from what I could see. But for 3D, out of the two movies I have seen in 3D, Dark of the Moon and Green Lantern, I was sorely disappointed. But here's why. I know the two movies I just listed, one of them being the biggest blockbuster of last summer, were action movies, but even though there wasn't the action—action movies have, there was still enough to make this movie POP! If they had done it right.

You see I was expecting my first experience with Titanic to be an enjoyable memorable 3D moment with my wife. I was expecting the ship to jump out at me when it sank when the camera was at certain angles, I was expecting to almost have water splash in my face, maybe see some birds or dolphins jump out at me...but the only 3D I got was the little infomercial about the movie being in Real-D 3D. After that the only "3D" I got was the clarity that comes with 3D and maybe when they had close ups on the people that were talking and the other person was out of focus; the out of focused person would sort of pop out. But that's it. Not even "The Heart of the Sea" popped out when old Rose dropped into the ocean at the ending and the camera was right under it for Christ sake! Fail! It looked gorgeous, and they should have focused on saying it was "Re-mastered" not it was 3D.

Now onto the story, it was extremely tacky. Honestly there are better love stories written out there and I also just don't like love stories that end sadly. But Cameron has really cheesy dialogue throughout that movie and to me, Kate Winslet's acting…eh, I wasn't feeling it. I mean I get what Cameron was trying to direct her to do: show a woman who was still a child inside because of all the restraints she has had on her life and then exposing it as she breaks out of her shell to find out who she is. But to me, Winslet just acted like a spoiled little child the whole time. Leonardo acted his butt off but she was too much a child in my opinion. The dialogue was cheesy too. The lines were way too specific and childish at most times. But I got what Cameron was trying to say.

Cameron was trying to depict what really happen on Titanic that fateful night. Much like when they make movies about segregation that really show to you the brutality that was back in that day. Like the guy who ran the exploration of Titanic said, "Three years, I’ve thought of nothing but Titanic; but I never got it…I never let it in." That was perfect for me! Cameron was explaining that each and every person on that ship had a story and he did it by showing a cheesy love story but that message really shined when the ship was sinking and there was the old people in the bed, the mother singing to her kids, the father holding his baby when the one boat comes back to see if there are any survivors. That was perfect because the greatest thing on this earth is love and that night when the ship went down it not only tore the world up but it tore up a lot of hearts. Cameron was making sure we realized just how tragic that night was; we needed to get it because until then all we did was treasure hunt the ship basically. Or we talk about “how cool” it is while we watch a simulation of that night. But like Old Rose said, “Thank you for that fine forensic analysis, Mr. Bondie. Of course, the experience of it was somewhat different.”

How I felt about it was how I felt about The Twilight Saga and The Last Airbender. It was a good idea but would have been better in someone else's hands.
I know people are going to hate me for this, but this is According to Michael III, so I don't know why you think this is According to Everyone Else. sorry. But until the next time, According to Michael III, what was the point of bringing it back out?

—Michael III

JUST PAY THE MAN!

Oh come on! Just give the poor man his money! Have all of you heard about this yet!? Apparently since Lionsgate wants to release Catching Fire November 2013 they are already in pre-production and have Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are already signed on to do the movie, Director Gary Ross isn’t (slashfilm.com). Would you like to know why? Well apparently Ross wants more money. That’s it. And I don’t know about you but that can’t seem like a big deal. According to Geektyrant.com The Hunger Games has already grossed over 363 million dollars…and the movie has only been out for two freaking weeks! That’s a lot, not including all the merchandise they’ve sold like The Hunger Games Tee my sister just wore to school again today. Then the movie is still in theaters, they haven’t even put into the fact that there will be another 363 million coming in because of the fact that the movie will come out to DVD and BlueRay and people will buy it then! Ross, who did direct The Hunger Games if you didn’t catch that, only made a whole 3 million to not only direct, but to WRITE the film as well (Geektyrant.com). I say ‘only,’ but that man just made probably more than I will make in my lifetime…at least until my novels finally get published, but he made a small fortune and he’s asking for a little more money. I think, they haven’t released how much he wants.

Seriously? Minus the three million he made from what the movie made so far and it’s still 360 MILLION dollars and they’re crying because he wants more to direct the next one? Sources haven’t said just how much he wants but come one!? By the time this movie is finally out completely on DVD and BlueRay the amount they will make will most likely be at least in the billions, and a few million more to pay the man that helped make him that much in the first place is a problem!? I don’t get it? The funny thing is they want to do this fast! Jennifer Lawerence was in X-Men: First Class (Mystique) and she is now being talked to about doing the next one. And like Geektyrant said: “If that happens, Catching Fire will most definitely be put on hold, so they need to lock down a director pretty fast.” They want to have this movie out in a little more than a year, and they already have a writer signed on to help write, assuming Collins will have a hand in the script to. Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) is writing the next script. I’ve never seen Slumdog Millionaire, but from what people are telling me it’s a fantastic movie and so obviously a big name writer like that will probably make the next installment fantastic. But to me this all seems ridiculous that they are trying to hassle this out, he may be greedy, but in my opinion he has the right to be because he helped make them that much money and he has a right to a little more. I mean three million is small already for the man who did Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, both great movies I’ve also heard…but I kind of dislike him now that I know he wrote the script to the Tale of Despereaux, and that movie sucked when the story was so beautiful; but still, three million is kind of small, especially now. He’s going down in history and he shouldn’t go down as the director they threw away when he did such a good job. The Hunger Games franchise should not pull a Harry Potter and Twilight Saga move. They had too many directors and some of them didn’t do a better job than the last. So let me tell you this, According to Michael III, JUST PAY THE MAN!

—Michael III

P.S.

But I’m excited there is going to be a second X-Men: First Class.

—Michael III

"Bombshell" "Smash" TV Recap: Frank finally finds out about Julia and Michael, Ivy loses control of her sanity (SPOILER ALERT!)

So this week’s Smash, “Hell on Earth,” focused on Julia’s unraveling marriage and Ivy’s insipid sanity. If you watched the drama, it truly was a Bombshell. I keep trying to tell Ivy that God don’t like ugly but I guess she can’t hear me through the screen…especially since the episode was pre-recorded months ago. Anyway, if you believe in God or not, everyone at least believes that if you do good, good will happen to you. And the conflict between Ivy and Karen has gotten ridiculous. Karen has been nothing but nice to Ivy and Ivy continually keeps being the biggest b**ch on the planet. What has been happening; good things to Karen and bad things to Ivy. This week the good thing that happened to Karen was she landed the national commercial for orange juice in which Ivy was late to. The bad thing that happened to Ivy besides once again losing to Karen, she fell down drunk on the show she was working on a as a chorus girl and Karen happened to see it all due to the fact that at the audition for the commercial they accidently switched sun glasses when they bumped into one another. Being the b**ch Ivy is she threw Karen’s away and being the gentle soul Karen is, she went to return Ivy’s at the Heaven on Earth. That’s when she saw the spectacle that is Ivy failing miserably to hold it all together. Ivy has been under “a lot of stress” as her dreams tumble down after being so close to them. Like I said, God don’t like ugly!

Karen follows Ivy all around the city and the two of them have it out to the point that Karen tells Ivy that Derek chose her as the first choice to sleep with him. Eventually the two of them get drunk as Karen refuses to leave Ivy alone and they end up in Time Square singing and dancing to a remix of a song I don’t know the title of but finally they’re having a good time after Karen tells Ivy it’s her night to shine. But when they get back to Ivy’s apartment, Ivy tells Karen they’re not best friends because of everything that happened and Karen just replies, “I know.”

Meanwhile Frank accidently finds a song that leads to him asking the right questions when Julia comes home later that night. It’s kind of creepy hearing him sing it while he plays the piano. Julia walks in slowly and realizes what he is singing. When he asks her to sing it I knew he had lost a few screws. He almost immediately guesses it was Michael she was having an affair with and the next day goes to confront him. That’s when Michael lets it slip that, “it was over a long time ago. And it shouldn’t have started up again, but that’s on me.” Frank realizes it’s been more than just since they began working on Marilyn, and as Michael tries to grab him when he begins to stumble away Frank decks him right in the face. Then he goes home to pack and Leo yells at his mom for telling him about the affair, saying that they were “happy” but now Frank is leaving. As Julia tries to stop him he yells about the betrayal and the fact she didn’t mention that it was the second time they had started having an affair. Slamming the door he leaves the house and where he went is unknown.

Other stuff happened too, like Ellis trying to become a co-producer but Eileen shuts him down because he didn’t realize how over his head he was. Tom realizes his new beau is a republican, which is bad for him I guess…but he becomes closer to Sam (The Random Gay Black Guy) as they worry about Ivy. I call Sam that because when he first shows up he’s just this random black guy who knows Ivy and it’s not until the next episode you find out his name and it’s not until like two or three after that you find out he’s gay as well. Who knew? Also Eileen plays Derek so that way he stays after he was talking about revamping a lot more than just the lead and talking about doing another workshop in a year. But the episode was really about Frank, Ivy, Karen, and Julia and how some need to hold it together and some just need to let people know the truth.

I honestly feel bad for Frank and in my opinion if Julia had really been sorry about what was going on, then right away, when she broke it off the second time with Michael, she would have told Frank the truth, then he may have been a little less angry and at least heard what she had to say. But is there really a way to explain why you cheated on someone? But Frank was right, saying it was nothing is stupid. I never realized that. Just because you feel bad about it afterwards doesn’t make it nothing. At some point it was something, or if not, then if anything it was betrayal, lies, deceit, and all the other stuff Frank yells off at her. Anyway, I’m excited to see what’s going to happen next week when Uma Thurman guest stars as the newly titled Bombshell begins anew. I like that title by the way; it just summarizes who Marilyn Monroe was and the news that was dropped in Julia’s life and how Ivy feels and how Karen’s life is turning out but for the better. Julia just says the title with a straight face as she realizes that’s it…for a lot of things.

Anyway until next time, According to Michael III, sometimes it’s better to just tell the truth, and sometimes it’s better to ease into it but the truth now is always better than hearing it somewhere else or finding out from someone else later…

—Michael III

To Love a Stable Boy--Where Queen/Mayor Regina comes from: TV Recap on last night's "Once Upon A Time" (SPOILER ALERT)

So after finally getting caught up on OUAT all I can say is wow. I'm just amazed at how this show continually keeps getting better and better each and every single week and it just amazes me how well the writers of this show tell their story. Not to mention the actors. They are just flawless in my opinion because if it wasn’t for them the story wouldn’t have the dramatic effect they have. Each week my heart aches more and more for the characters that can’t be with their lovers and my soul bridles with rage as the Queen continually makes everyone’s lives as miserable as hers was. Last weeks “Hat Trick” really dove more into what the curse can do and brought up the question of whether or not the curse affected all the worlds that are fairytales to us or if it affected the characters that Regina knew at the time of the curse. I guess that will be answered eventually, but the emotion Sebastian Stan (Bucky-James Barnes-from Captain America: The first Avenger) displays as a desperate and totally certifiable Mad Hatter chocked me up a little and without him, Emma would have never possibly started to believe in the curse.

OUAT is a show that is loosely based off of the story of Snow White. If you don't know about this show then you need to go subscribe to Hulu+ right now. But OUAT is about the evil Queen, Regina, who is hell bent on destroying everyone's lives...yeah what evil queen isn't? But as you dive deeper into the show you find out that her hatred extends from Snow White who somehow ruined her happiness long ago and in the wake of trying to destroy the lives of Snow White and James (Prince Charming) she obtains a curse that is supposed to take all of the fairy tale world and place it in a world where there are no happy endings, apparently our world, which I don’t get and you’ll see why in a bit or you already see if you watch the show. But before the curse can take place Snow White and Prince Charming have a baby that is supposed to be the savior of them all. So having Geppetto build a magical box they transport the baby Emma out of their world right as the curse takes place.

Years later a little boy named Henry shows up at the door of a woman named Emma Swan and tells her he's the little boy that she gave away. Taking him back to the town of Storybrook, Maine Henry shows her a book that has a collection of a bunch of fairy tale stories and tells her that they aren't just stories they’re real. Henry continues to tell his biological mother that she is the baby Snow White and Prince Charming had and that she's there to break the curse. "Nobody leaves Storybrook," he tells her and the reason why is because the curse took all the fairy tale creatures and placed them in this one town wiping their memories and keeping them trapped there and at first only one of them knows the truth of their other lives: The Evil Queen who is now mayor of the "prison." But you come to find that Rumplestiltskin also knows the truth, and you find that out in a special episode about him.

The only problem I have with the show is the fact the Queen was so blinded by rage and pain that she doesn't realize her curse didn't do much. The whole point of the curse was to trap them all in a world where there are no happy endings, but the problem is the show goes back and forth each episode to show what's going on in our world now and what happens to the characters in their world when they faced similar situations. It helps build the two different stories to see how where they came from and who they were is manifested in our world. But as you see their original stories come alive you realize the fairy tale world didn't have very happy endings either. If you're up to date on the show you know that Rumplestiltskin has lost his son and got his heart broken, Grumpy was once named Dreamy but heart break changed his name, Snow White and Prince Charming had a lot of problems and the show is still going through them, Red Riding Hood and Granny got an upgrade, and by upgrade I’m talking about a Taylor Lautner upgrade if you know what I mean, The Huntsman...well that episode was just jacked up and poor Emma she finally opens up and the dude dies as he kisses her; but you get the point. The curse really didn't change much except keep the lovers that were together apart and that's Snow White and Charming, other than that no one else is dealing with anything. Well Rumple's girl is in an insane asylum in the real world and he still loves her so there is that. I don't know, I love this show but the curse really didn't do much so if you watch it or are going to you'll see what I mean.

But last night’s Episode, "Stable Boy" was full of surprises. It begins showing a softer and younger side of the Queen Regina who is in love with her stable boy…but her mother is just as bad or an even worse evil witch like her daughter will eventually become and only wants her daughter to marry up in society. At least we get to see where Regina gets it from. One day in a secret meeting with her lover a young girl stuck on a rampaging horse screams for help. Regina rides to help her and we find out it’s Snow White, played by the adorable and becoming widely popular Bailee Madison (Bridge to Terabithia, Don’t be Afraid of the Dark, and Just Go with It with Adam Sandler. She was also the “girl” version of Max in Wizards of Waverlyplace). Grateful for saving his daughters life, Snow White’s father, the King, asks Regina to marry her, and wanting her daughter to succeed and not knowing she’s fraternizing with the stable boy, her mother accepts for her, which in retrospect shouldn’t even count.

Accidently Snow figures out about her and Daniel, the Stable Boy’s, plan of escape to get married; running away from it all. Chasing Snow down Regina gets Snow to understand about true love and gets her to promise she won’t tell especially not her mother…but, we see where Regina gets her manipulation as her mother tricks Snow into telling her the plan which leads to disaster when Regina’s mother catches them right as they’re getting ready to run and kills Daniel by ripping out his heart and crushing it. She convinces Regina to marry the King and with that the first step is taken. Snow, the little naive child that she is, believes the next day that Regina is preparing for her wedding with Daniel and tells Regina that she was the one that let her mom know. You can see on the screen something just snaps in Regina and her mother sees the whole scene as she tells Snow that she’s not marrying Daniel because what they had wasn’t real and that it’s about becoming a family with the King and Snow. Snow leaves excited for her new step-mother and Regina confronts her mother about setting the whole situation up all the way to Snow on the horse. As she storms off she says, “I should have let her die on that horse.”

Back in our world Regina has methodically set Mary Margaret, who is Snow White, up for the murder of the wife of David Nolan, who is Prince Charming. The trial is about to begin and Emma struggles to find way to prove that she is innocent. That’s when she goes back to the scene of the crime to find a piece of a shovel that broke off when someone was burying the heart of David’s wife, Katherine. Already on Regina’s tail, she sneaks into the Mayor’s house with the help of her biological son but Regina’s adopted son, Henry, and finds the shovel that matches. But the next day when she has a warrant there is a brand new shovel in the garage. As they take Mary Margret off in chains to her trial she confronts Mr. Gold, who is Rumplestiltskin, about not really helping Mary Margret—which if you watch the episode before you know that he made a deal with Regina to get some battery charges against him dropped. But he tells her it’s not over and walks out. Frustrated Emma throws a vase of flowers the news reporter Sidney, Genie/The mirror, gave her. When the vase smashes she finds a bug and finally realizes Sidney hasn’t been on her side at all. As she goes to apologize to “The Stranger,” the first outsider to enter town besides Emma, they hear Ruby, Red Riding Hood, scream and they run to find her pointing and rambling about the alley behind her Granny’s dinner and that’s where they find Katherine…

Alive…

So now the question becomes how is Katherine alive when the heart that was found was tested for DNA and matched Katherine’s…is it possible that Regina once again did the whole “pull out your heart and you’re still alive unless I crush it” move? Or does Regina have other resources that can help her fake a DNA test. But it’s ridiculous when you realize that all this drama was because Snow White was just a little girl trying to help. Regina even goes as far as to see her in jail to tell her she knows she didn’t kill Katherine but she does deserve what’s happening to her. Talk about F-ed up!

It honestly frustrates me now that I know why the Queen is so hell bent on destroying her life I find it very trivial. Honestly, she shouldn’t be blaming Snow when it’s all her mother’s fault in the first place. Well, I guess you’re parents are your parents no matter what they do. But I have a feeling the story between Regina and her mother isn’t over. I mean we’ve already seen her kill her father to help the curse get put into action, and she loved her dad. So what makes up believe that out of everything Mommy dearest doesn’t get a little payback either?

Either way, I can’t wait for next week since they showed “The Stranger,” August Booth, holding the dagger of “The Dark One” or otherwise known now as Rumplestiltskin. The dagger, if driven through the heart of the current Dark One will make you the new Dark One; but how does August know about the dagger when even Henry, with his book, doesn’t know who Mr. Gold really is? Oh well, I guess we’ll find out on Sunday, and look for my recap on that next Monday! Until my recap of tonight’s delicious Smash tomorrow, According to Michael III, OUAT needs to be picked up for another season already!

—Michael III