Easter Peeps Party with Little Debbie and Sweetarts.

Note: Today's update received its finishing touches after one of the strangest days I've experienced in quite some time. A close family member had a spell that at first seemed like it may have been a seizure though it turned out to be a far less threatening feinting spell. After their time at the hospital getting checked over, we stayed up late into the wee hours of morning watching old DVDs of MacGyver alongside our sick dog. Now on to the article proper.

Hipity Hopity, Easter's on its way! That holy day when we celebrate a zombified hippie with symbols of fertility. Ok so it's a bit of a complicated holiday but at least it has candy and that give me the chance to fix an oversight on my part. I haven't done a snack blog in... god lord how long has it been? It's not from a lack of material, far from it. Usually the problem is I move on from one treat to the next so quickly that it all gets lost in the shuffle. Not this time, no sir. For us non-religious types Easter is a celebration of gluttony. Double that if it falls on the same week as multiple appointments, trips out of town, and a short but failed attempt at gaining public office. This is the sort of week that begs for overindulgence, and I intend to deliver.

Little Debbie Carrot Cake Creme Rolls

It's no secret that the crème roll is the shining star of Little Debbie's line-up. Be they classic chocolate, Banana, Boston, pumpkin, or the sadly out of production blueberry, they're all the food equivalent of a comfy blanket on a cold day. Whenever things go belly-up, just pop one of these sugary torpedoes down your gullet and suddenly life is just a little more bearable. That being said there is an enormous pressure for a new variety to live up to its predecessors and somehow Carrot Cake not only lives up to those expectations it spits on em for good measure.

I can already hear the naysayers out there saying “but I don't like carrot cake” to which I call shenanigans. This is one of those cases where the imitation dodges the originals issues.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, even without trying every new product out there, I feel confident that there's are the best snack of the holiday season. The only problem is being a limited edition means it will go away soon only to leave a sugary hole in my heart.

Tube shaped cakes aren't the only reason to be excited right now. As always there is an avalanche of Peeps flavors for fans to try out. I know not everyone is a fan, within my own family there is only one other person who gets down on these marshmallow chickadees with the same passion as myself. So once again my nephew joined me in a two-man peep party as we worked our way through 4 new flavors in a row.

To the best of my knowledge Pancakes & Syrup Peeps are a Kroger exclusive which, is understandable. Both maple candy and Peeps can be a tough sell for some folks, and combining them only exacerbates that issue. As a man whose love for maple knows no bounds even I was skeptical about what these had to offer. Still; I'm not one to pass by a new Peep no matter my initial worries.

Opening the package let loose an outrageous fragrance as if someone had recently lit a cheap pancake house candle. Still; we pushed past the stink and dug in to find a pretty decent stunt food. It's mellow enough that it doesn't overwhelm yet there's just enough of a spike in maple flavor to keep things interesting.

For anyone who doesn't like maple (you savages) these won't change your mind. Peeps fans who've been weary to try these should pick up a pack. They're a far cry from the best variety out there but they're enjoyable enough.

One down and the party was off to a decent start. Next up was something a little different as Peeps brought back their mystery flavors for a new round. I'd heard from Internet ramblings that all three of them had a soda/cola motif this year so I was mildly prepared though still lacking a proper idea of what we were getting ourselves into.

Mystery Flavor #1 was solved as soon as we ripped into the packaging. The smell made it quite obvious these were Root Beer Peeps. Both the nephew & I are full-blown Root Beer junkies so this was like receiving mana from heaven. They taste like a lighter Root Beer Barrel candy in marshmallow form. There's little else to elaborate on. If you like Root Beer, barrel candy, or peeps these should satisfy in one way or another.

Diving into another package we found a more subtle scent. Mystery #2 wasn't something so easily identifiable though it seemed sensible that if they were doing soda themes then this could be a citrus flavor. Taking a bite resulted in a very smooth and, by Peeps standards, reserved profile. It is clearly an attempt at Sprite or 7-Up.

Though we'd enjoyed every flavor thus far, I would lean towards this as the clear favorite. The other two were tasty but it would be easy to have your fill of them after one or two pieces. This is the sort of flavor where you could mow down half the package and still be alright. That's a rare luxury in a world full of overpowered snacks.

We moved on to the final mystery flavor with some trepidation as we weren't quite sure what was coming our way. #3's initial scent didn't help much either, something almost sour and crude. Once we gathered the courage to take a bit it still wasn't clear though I believe this is supposed to be Cherry Cola but if that's so I can't say as they pulled it off. The whole thing has an almost sour quality to it and whatever agent is used to simulate the cola element makes your spit almost fuzzy. Out of the entire mystery trio this one is the closest to merely being a novelty. It's an interesting way to spend a couple minutes but not a good snack.

Last up on our festive tour are these Sweet Tarts Bunny Gummies. Not sure if these are new, old, or some kind of store exclusive. It's something that totally slipped under my radar until we stumbled upon a package at Target.

After eating a couple I felt confident in writing them off as being like any other sour gummy. You know whether you're a fan of this sort of candy and these certainly won't change your mind. A little later in the night I reached in and started to mix the different colors at random which had an unexpected side-effect. The mixed flavors triggered my sense of nostalgia, reminding me of a well-liked fruit snack from my youth. Problem is I can't think of which one. One second I was thinking Fruit-by-the-Foot, another instant it was Gushers only without the goo. The whole experience would have driven me mad had I not been so tired.

On the one hand I can only recommend these to a certain group of people as some people simply dislike sour gummies. At the same time I want all of you to try mixing these and reporting your findings back to me.

As you can see in the last picture, we've got a few movies lined-up for a lazy Easter Sunday though I'm a little more excited for my Saturday Night horror viewing as it allows me to include flicks pertaining to not one but two holidays. For anyone in need of a spooky Easter fix there's always Night of the Lepus, a tale of vicious giant bunny rabbits. For a little egg-based terror you could check out Critters 2. I'm much more stoked to bust out the April Fools flicks however and nothing fits that bill better than Slaughter High. By no means is it a quality film but it brings a smile to my face as I remember viewing it in the old Monstervision days. Plus it gets me in the mood to go out and do my own pranks.

Gotta go for now, friends. Only one day left to prepare my April Fools Pranks and Easter recipes. This week was really bizarre, so I'm hoping this weekend provides a nice cool-down from all the stress and weirdness. Hope everybody has a good weekend and some decent candy.

Lupinranger vs Patranger Episodes 5-6

During any Super Sentai series the episodes after the opening salvo are usually reserved for character-focused tales with little baring on the greater story. It's generally the testing ground for the show to try out some concepts and let us get a feel for the different types of tales that show can deliver. One might expect this newest entry to follow suit yet once again it manages to surprise by offering far more than it need to at this point in the game. Our token mufti-episode recap works out wonderfully in this case as these two most recent entries serve as one solid story.

Before we move on to the real meaty stuff, I'd like to point out a few elements we've yet to tackle. First off there are a couple characters I haven't addressed. The most prominent on the good guy side is Commander Hilltop, boss of the Patrangers and a sign of progress within Super Sentai. Few and far between are the moments when this franchise... hell, this genre includes anyone who isn't Japanese. Occasionally there will be some other Asian cultures represented, and once in a blue moon you'll see a white dude helping out. To have a mentor figure played by an African-American is absolutely wild. And no I'm not using that term to avoid calling him black, the guy was born and raised stateside before finding success as a comedian in Japan. Not unlike Zyuohger utilizing someone with severe social issues this marks another step in Sentai finding new types of characters to tell stories about.

I've also neglected to mention the robotic helper, Jim Carter. It's a pretty standard-issue cutesy mascot type with a high-pitched voice. Honestly it's something I wish the series had avoided. Mercifully the little bugger hasn't had much time in the spotlight so far.

Several of the villains grab some extra screen-time over these episodes as well. Destra, who's sort of a... grenade-man? Pineapple-cyclops? Not really sure what he's supposed to be exactly but he's investigating how parts of the Lupin collection ended up in the hands of these two batches of heroes. He knows someone is playing a much larger game, who it is and how this all plays into the competition for head of the Ganglers is what matters to him. Big guy gets in on the action too, putting four of our heroes on the ropes with little effort and in the process, revealing to them that there are more than just random criminals causing trouble.

Destra's investigation is all the more important as it introduces us to Zamigo, the Gangler responsible for killing the Lupinrangers loved ones. Little is known about him so far except his human guise is something of a wild west outlaw and he is a information broker currently interested in the movement of the various Lupin collection items. I gotta mention how happy I am to see monsters in human forms return to Sentai. Several 90's shows utilized this element as it had the advantage of adding some extra color and mystery to each case.

Anyway, all of the investigation into the heroes technology leads to an element of this series that, to my knowledge at least, is wholly unique within the franchise. Generally the bad guys have little interest in the heroes technology save for destroying it to render their opponents powerless. The objects these two teams utilize are presented as being just as dangerous as the rest of the Lupin collection. This means that down the line, villains may attempt to take these items back and bend them to their own goals. It's a slight twist on the usual formula which could lead to some interesting developments if the writers carry through.

It's a testiment of how much this series already has going on that I've written this much without even getting to the primary theme of these two episodes which is about the rivalry between both red rangers. What brings this to a head is the introduction of a new robot that changes hands a few times. The Ganglers steal it, then I believe the Patranger got it back right before Lupin Red took it for himself. This is what I was talking about earlier. In most series the introduction of a new tool wouldn't be all that interesting but when three separate groups are battling for control, it becomes a great deal more exciting.

The fight between the red rangers in episode five is really something to behold. Wonderfully shot, edited, and choreographed to a fine point. Even though we the audience know nothing truly awful will happen to either of them this early in the show, the battle still manages to have tension. It's not just a battle of brawn but ideals. One side believes firmly in using this power for justice and protection while the other must take a darker path to regain what they've lost. We see that Kairi would probably prefer to take a more respectable stand against the Ganglers, though he does what he feels he must to regain his brother. This starts to get through to Keiichiro who hadn't put much motive to his opponents actions other than basic greed.

Tsukasa gets a bit of additional depth here as she has to snap Keiichiro out of his rage. He once inspired her with his ideals so for him to lose sight of them only to focus his anger at one opponent gives her ample reason to slap him around. It marks her as possibly the most mature hero in the entire show, one that can provide a stern lecture or a helping hand as needed. Combine that with her childlike obsession with stuffed animals from a few weeks ago and she already has more depth that basically anyone from Kyuranger.

That's three recaps done and this series has yet to disappoint. What's particuarlly impressive is that in a season of telivision that has some shows struggling to retain my attention, looking at you The Flash, this is worth looking forward to every week. That's such a priceless thing to have at a time when things are especially busy. For example; in this upcoming week I have to attent a city council meeting to try and win a seat, set-up appointments with a college before Friday, have some paperwork sent their way, and attend that before a different meeting on Friday. Plus all the usual day to day antics, writing, e-mails, medicating the cat for his bladder issues. The next 20-odd minutes spend with these costumed do-gooders will be very much earned.

Top 100 Horror Movies: The Entity (1982)

Recently there was much talk online about a recent Netflix acquisition called Veronica. Out of nowhere a bunch of people were praising the film as crazy scary and quite good, then others came out and declared it a total bore. Deciding to add it to my Saturday night viewing schedule I found it to be a pretty hollow experience. Nowhere near good enough to thrill me yet not awful enough to provide much fun. Some of the scares would have been effective had I given a crap and not been convinced that the whole thing was leading towards a cheap twist, which it somewhat did. Frankly due to it's general storyline involving the evils of spirit boards it felt like another one of those dull Ouija movies.

Watching something like Veronica makes me wonder how so many people could find it scary or entertaining. Were they simply caught off guard? Maybe they have very low standards? It's just very confusing for a guy who can walk back to his bedroom and bring out something much better and more frightening.

I'm not here to bash on Veronica's brief burst of internet fame though. Actually I wanted to use it as a bridge towards talking about a much better film with some similar themes. The whole time spent watching a girl who apparently struggles with sexuality and is burdened with parental responsibilities, in this case for her siblings reminded me of the 1982 shocker, The Entity.

The film has a an wide range of talents in-front of an behind the camera. Directed by Sidney J. Furie (who has an incredibly diverse list of credits) and staring Barbara Hershey and Ron Silver, with a script from Frank De Felitta based on his novel. It should also be noted that Felitta's original book is supposedly focused on true events though there are arguments against the legitimacy of that case. Regardless of any basis in reality, Felitta can count this among his list of worthwhile horror credits along with Audrey Rose and Dark Night of the Scarecrow which he also directed. One has to wonder how he would have approached this story from the directors chair but it's tough to complain when Furie does an excellent job overall.

The Entity is the tale of a single mother name Carla Moran who struggles with almost nightly visitations from a sexually abusive entity. The film waste no time in getting to the scary shit either as we're offered just a few moments with Carla before she suffers her first attack. That's vital to the progression of the story as her connections to others make up so much of the deeper meaning to this film. She has a negative history with men ranging from her abusive father to past husbands. Her current lot in life is with her three kids, a decent traveling salesman boyfriend, one female friend, and upon seeking aid, a doctor (Ron Silver) who begins to develop feelings towards her.

A particularly interesting aspect to the film is that it become perfectly clear that something supernatural is afoot, there's no trickery on that end. However; we never learn exactly what the cause of all this mayhem really is. It could be a ghost such as Carla's father or one of her ex-lovers. Maybe it's a demon that latched on during a low-point in her life. Or could it be a psychic manifestation of of her sexual frustrations as a woman chained down by motherhood? Multiple potential explanations are given without any singular answer. While this may sound frustrating, the writing handles it beautifully as it makes the subject Carla's fear so ambiguous. Should she be weary of her past, a dark force from beyond, or herself?

Hopefully I've made it clear that the movie has some good dramatic elements and surprisingly deep writing, but let's remember that I wanted to tell you about the scare-factor. The Entity features so many freaky sequences that it becomes an issue as the audience starts to build a tolerance for all the abuse. The initial attacks are all downright terrifying and highly sexual but eventually you'll become exhausted from seeing this poor woman raped over and over again by some unseen force. The final act of the film attempts to correct this issue by changing things up, but we'll have to come back to that.

Two elements that help to make this film so scary are the cinematography by Stephen H. Burum who finds ways to make normal rooms look threatening, and then there's the music. Charles Bernstein who is likely best remembered for his work on Nightmare on Elm Street does what may be his best work here. The main theme is good enough but if you really want a clue as to what makes so many scenes extra spooky just head over to Youtube and look up Bath Attack. Quentin Tarantino even sampled the song for Inglorious Basterds so a few of you may already be familiar with the tune.

As I mentioned earlier, the film takes a bit of a left turn in the final act and I'd say it weakens the film considerably, though not enough to kill the effect. By that point in the story, Carla is aided by a group of ghost-hunting academics who seek to find proof of the supernatural. This involves an outlandish plan to capture her tormentor, and well... it just gets weird before wrapping up.

Even with the oddball final act, The Entity is an incredible fright-fest. Direction is tight, the drama is engaging, and above all the terror is based around something quite real as it draws parallels to abusive relationships. Martin Scorsese has apparently praised the movie as one of the scariest horror films ever. I may find most of the mans work to be overrated but it sure sounds like he's got some solid taste in fright flicks.

Apologies for taking so long between posts. Last week was a weird one and I ended up with portions of three separate articles before finally completing this one. There should definitely be another post up before the week is out. Can't say when or what it will be exactly, I'm actually looking into putting my name in for a city council seat. If nothing else I'm guessing there's a worthwhile story in trying.

Lupinranger vs Patranger Episodes 2-4

Did you ever notice that some days are almost made of pure unfiltered irritation? Think of day where no matter what you try, something is always in the way and nothing of value is accomplished. Yeah...that's the sort of day I had. When life refuses to even give you so much as lemons, then it's high time to settle in for some Super Sentai.

Now that we're a few episodes removed from the great premier, it should become a little more obvious what kind of show Lupinranger vs Patranger will be, and I'm happy to say it looks like it will continue to be solid viewing. The writers are already finding ways to balance out the tone, the action has reduced the number of crazy camera angles so that they remain special instead of annoying, and the plot continues to deepen. What I'm trying to say is, we've got a lot to talk about.

I guess the first item we should check off the list is that we now know the exact details of what lead the Lupinranger crew into their current lifestyle. A year ago each of them was leading fairly normal lives until a currently unknown Gangler took away someone they love. For Kairi it was his older brother, Umika lost her best friend, and most magic of all was Touma who was seperated from his fiancee. In each case the person was frozen only to eventually crack and shatter into nothing. That is when each of them were approached by Kogure, the Lupin family butler with the notion of recovering their friends and family should they reclaim the Lupin collection.

Another new detail is the introduction of Good Striker. While seemingly another item from the collection, Goodie, as he's affectionately called by Umika actually has a personality and will of its own. It's also what allows both teams to access their super finishing moves and combine their robots. It's an odd little bugger that changes sides based on mood, and it seems more than cautious about Kogure. This along with Patrangers transformation tech only lends to the theory that there is something going on behind the scenes and that the butler may not be trustworthy.

Those developments are pretty much in place by the second episode, allowing us to move on to more character based plots. Episode three pulls double duty on the secondary men for each team. Touma's part revolves around his plans to steel the Patranger transformation devices. After all, why risk valuable parts of the collection getting blown apart by gung-ho cops who just want to destroy monsters? Cooler heads prevail as Kairi convinces him that having Patranger around offers a greater list of options for each situation. He proves this point by letting the cops trigger a trap set by the current monster.

Meanwhile on the opposing team, Sakuya struggles with... I guess being sort of a dullard. Honestly even after this storyline he is easily the least developed of the core cast. Basically he finds himself goofing up at work, but then mans up when necessary. His discovery is that he needs positive encouragement to perform at his best. I hope he doesn't become the weak link of the show since he genuinely comes across as warm, if a bit impulsive.

Episode four gives us some time with the girls, mostly Tsukasa who works to solve a case that speaks to an embarrassing part of her personal life. A Gangler has been using stuffed animals to kidnap people to sell on the black market. The reason this effects our pink ranger so much is that despite her very professional demeanor, she has an almost perverse love for stuffed critters.

Umika also gets a little growth as she cares enough about the victims of these crimes to reach out and give her lawful rivals a tip. Tsukasa in turn gives Lupin Yellow an ample opportunity to steal the treasure. Only a few episodes in and the girls at least show some willingness to work alongside each-other for the greater good.

As if all this weren't enough already there's even more upgrades and technology to talk about. First are the team finishers which are both a tad bizarre. In Patranger's case the whole team fuses together in a single body. As you can guess the results so far aren't very coordinated. Lupinranger on the other hand gets multiple red rangers. How Good Striker is able to facilitate such reality bending feats is left unanswered.

Anyone whose read previous recaps knows I'm not not a big fan of the robot portion of this franchise, though there have been some strides towards fixing that, and for the first time since Ninninger I'd say we took a big leap towards more engaging robot battles. The mix of CG and physical elements has gotten much smoother, the choreography is a step up from the norm, even the miniature sets are looking better. One little issues however, and this is one that has been with the franchise all along, is the sheer amount of destruction on display means at least a few hundred civilians must have died during these fights. It just seems like a more obvious issue in this show since there's so much more detail than just a little model factory blowing up. It's a topic I'd love to see addressed in a story someday, but I'm probably asking too much of kiddie shows.

It's hard to imagine but there's even more to this show than what we've already talked about as it is just drenched in theme and potential. There's just so many neat touches on display that could be further developed into something more meaningful than simply set-dressing. Even the potential for different kinds of character relationships is teased within these opening episodes. Consider Sakuya's immediate attraction to Umika and consider what might happen when he finds out she's a thief, or when they inevitable start to work together. Right now he's just a goofy cop with a crush on the cute girl at the bakery, where that might end up makes for some rich storytelling options.

Once again this show saved my day. It feels odd to say this so early but this may be the best Sentai I've covered so far. Really makes a viewer feel good about the franchise moving forward. That's all for now. I've got to get some sleep in the hope of making tomorrow at least somewhat productive.