Don Reads Comics: Thanos Annual and Marvel Star Wars Comics

Don reads the new Thanos Annual by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim, and a dozen or so issues of Marvel's classic Star Wars series from the 70s.

Some Stuff I've Watched Recently

Here's a quick run down of some stuff I've recently seen that, maybe, aren't deserving of longer reviews, or at least I'm too lazy to give them any:

Foyle's War
A British-produced detective procedural set in Hastings, England during the second World War. It's slow-paced and hard to get into (I had to try watching the first episode about three times and finally push through before it clicked), but boy is it good. It was a recommendation by my sister Tanya, who referred to it as "the British Colombo."I don't completely agree, since Colombo is more silly and funny, but both are about unassuming but brilliant police detectives who solve murders with an almost supernatural level of skill and brilliance.

And the setting is just cool and leads to some interesting stories and concepts. It does require a bit of knowledge about the second world war, but it's still accessible as a straight up murder mystery series. Anyway, I recommend it and think it's a lot of fun.

12 Years a Slave
Ok... I didn't actually watch this one, just the first thirty minutes or so, but that was long enough to learn it wasn't for me. Great movie. Great performances. Great direction. Great cinematography. Great period costumes and locations and sets. But after about the tenth torture scene, I decided to do something else. An important story to be sure, and we should never forget the atrocities of slavery, but I just didn't want to sit through a three hour movie that was so bleak and gruesome. I already know slavery is awful and I think I'm a nice person, so I am ok with skipping it.

But check it out if you're interested. I wasn't.

Pompeii
What does it say about me that I turned off 12 Years a Slave and actually finished Pompeii? In my defense, Pompeii is the kind of movie you can have on in the background while you do other things, like fold your laundry, work on your blog, or just search the web. You can't do that with a real movie, just a fake one like this, especially one by the phenomenally underwhelming director Paul W. S. Anderson.

Also, what does it say about me that I've seen every film by Paul W. S. Anderson but only one or two by Paul Thomas Anderson? Anyway, this movie was pretty terrible. It was basically just Gladiator, except it ended with a volcano erupting and killing everybody. I'm not even joking: It's literally the same plot as Gladiator, where a guy's family is murdered and then he's kidnapped and forcibly turned into a Gladiator... and then a volcano just erupts after an hour of twenty minutes then the movie ends. Of course, I knew all of this going in and didn't expect to be surprised, but I did expect the action to be better directed and edited, for the CG to look a lot less cheap and fake, and for the acting to not be so dreadfully bland.

Anyway, feel free to skip this one. You were gonna anyway.

All is Lost
Robert Redford as a sailor on a sinking yacht somewhere in the middle of the ocean. There is only one actor, two sets (the yacht and, later, a life raft), and less than a minute of dialogue in the entire film. It's basically just about a guy in a sinking boat, and... well... all hope is lost. It's a good film with an entirely original and brave concept that I recommend for movie fans who want to see something different, but it falls short of greatness if only because it's a bit too slow paced in some places, and a bit unbelievably over the top in some other sequences.

Anyway, this is one of those movies I put on my Netflix queue almost at random, and then when it came I couldn't remember why I thought that sounded good. It sat on my shelf for a week or so before I finally decided to just give it a try for a few minutes, but right from the start it hooked me in and kept me interested.

There's really not much to say about this one, and the story doesn't have any twists or turns or even a real plot. It's just a guy in a sinking boat, but the direction was great and Robert Redford nailed it. Check it out.

Thor: The Dark World
I liked this movie, even though I can't remember a single moment where I wasn't completely confused. I never knew what was happening, what the relationships were between the characters, or anything about the overall conflict. Simply put, it made no sense at all... but it sure was fun. Visually, it was really awesome and took the glimpses of Asgard from the first film to the next level. The original Thor was about an Asgardian trying to make his way on Earth, while this film is all Asgard all the time, and it's the better for it.

The first Thor is probably a better film, and it certainly has a more coherent story, but this one was just sillier and campier and more fun. The special effects were dazzling, the action set pieces were exciting, and all of the actors seemed to be having so much fun, especially Tom Hiddleston as Loki who has offically ranked as the greatest villain in the history of comic book movies. Maybe.

Anyway, I recommend this one. It's great fun.

So Awkward: Oreo Taste Test

Jester and Don taste test a bunch of new Oreo flavors so you don't have to:

Don Ate That: White Castle Breakfast

Don tries the new White Castle waffle sliders:

Funko Friday: More Mystery Minis

Jester and Don celebrate Funko Friday by going to Minnehaha Park to open some Mystery Minis:

Donald Reads Comics week 1: Star Trek and Original Sin

Don't doesn't really have any friends who read comics, so he decides to talk about comics to his videocamera:

Changes to my Youtube Channel

This is probably of no interest to anybody, but I decided to make a big change to my donpfeff youtube channel: The biggest change being that I took down all of the videos and won't be updating it any more. 

Why? It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, actually, and the time finally became the right time to do it. Here is the explanation I posted on my youtube channel:

What happened to all of my other video reviews? Well, they have been deleted by me and I am officially retiring as a mash-up style film reviewer on youtube. Why? I have been doing this for years and for the most part the reception from viewers has been incredibly positive and encouraging, but behind the scenes I have had to deal with countless issues about copyrights, fair usage rules, and various other things that led me to believe what used to be a fun hobby could in fact get me into trouble, even though I don't believe I was doing anything wrong and all the clips I used were fair use.

However, I'm not a legal expert and it finally occurred to me if that you have to ask yourself if something is illegal -- or even just immoral -- then it's probably a good time to stop doing that. Right? 

What happened to all of my other video reviews? Well, they have been deleted by me and I am officially retiring as a mash-up style film reviewer on youtube. Why? I have been doing this for years and for the most part the reception from viewers has been incredibly positive and encouraging, but behind the scenes I have had to deal with countless issues about copyrights, fair usage rules, and various other things that led me to believe what used to be a fun hobby could in fact get me into trouble, even though I don't believe I was doing anything wrong and all the clips I used were fair use.

However, I'm not a legal expert and it finally occurred to me if that you have to ask yourself if something is illegal -- or even just immoral -- then it's probably a good time to stop doing that. Right? 

Also, and even forgetting issues of copyright, I simply wanted to move on from editing together those kinds of video projects and, instead, working on content that is solely my own to use and do with as I please. 

So Donpfeff may return at some point, but until then I'm going to be posting more original content on my So Awkward Show page. I hope anybody who loved my videos here check out my videos there, and please accept my gratitude for the love and support you all have shown me over the years.

Well, except for all the haters, but even they occasionally made me laugh.

Basically, what began as a fun way to learn more about video editing and share my opinions on films to more people turned into something I became increasingly uncomfortable doing. Take my Spielberg-a-thon for example: I intended for it to be a loving tribute to one of my personal heroes, but after so many of the videos were flagged for possible copyright infringements, I decided that might, in fact, be a lousy way to pay tribute to somebody. I don't think anybody who watched those videos would deny they were lovingly crafted and well-intentioned, but I still don't want to run the risk that what I presumed was fair usage was actually infringement. Over the years I have had many offers to monetize my channel, but I turned them all down because I was already having problems with copyright accusations.

So it just wasn't fun any more. The videos I have been doing with my friend Sarah for our So Awkward channel have been fun, although nowhere near as popular or well received. But then, when I first started doing those video reviews, nobody liked them much either.

Bottom line, if I'm going to be posting things online, I want to make sure they are all my own creation. I want to make sure everything I do is legal and moral and, mostly important, in line with my own sense of right and wrong. I realize I am probably over thinking some dumb video reviews on youtube.

Funko Friday: The Ghostbusters Funkos

Another So Awkward Funko Friday video. Believe it or not, but Funko Fridays are the most frequently requested videos for So Awkward. In fact, they are the only requests we get. This is a pretty good one:

Don Ate That Part 1: Microwavable Cheeseburger

So Awkward: Wizard World Minneapolis 2014

Jester and Don attend the 2014 Wizard World Comic Convention in Minneapolis, MN and meet James Marsters, Michael Rooker, Ralph Macchio, and more!

So Awkward: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

Jester and Don watch The Amazing Spider-Man 2: