'Lego Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood' Makes the Case That Lego-Ization Delightfully Works on Any Property

After making a series of terrific direct-to-video animated films featuring a Lego-ized Justice League, Warner Bros. Animation gives the Lego treatment to another beloved Warner Bros.-owned property with Lego Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood.  Though it’s not as great as the Lego Justice League films, it’s still delightfully fun.

The plot of the movie is a standard Scooby Gang adventure: they win a trip to a visit an old movie studio, which happens to be haunted by classic horror movie monsters, while at the same time, is being threatened by bankruptcy.  With that, the movie unfolds as you would expect.  Mystery-solving.  Jokes.  Snacks.  Traps.  Chase scenes.  Criminals in monster costumes.  “And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!”  All the classic elements of the Scooby-Doo cartoon.  But with the narrative playing out in a world constructed in Lego and which functions in the absurd logic and physics of its nature, it gives a fresh spin to the whole thing, like the delivery of gags only possible in a Lego world.

Photo Biography Update (05-31-16)

Some notable photos taken during the period of January 8 to May 31, 2016...

The Titular Kitten of 'Keanu' Is Probably the Cutest Movie Cat Ever

Keanu stars Comedy Central personalities Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.  It’s an action comedy about two cousins/buddies, Rell (Peele) and Clarence (Key), who have to pose as the ruthless assassins called the Allentown Boys (also played by the duo) in order to infiltrate a local gang so that they can retrieve Rell’s kitten, Keanu, which the gang recently abducted.

This movie is very silly, but in a good way.  The thought that people – Rell and Clarence, as well as different criminals – would be compelled to do crazy stuff (e.g. theft, intimidations, pretending to be hardened “gangsta” thugs, starting a gunfight, etc.) for a cat is just plain ridiculous.  Sure, Keanu is indeed extremely adorable – probably the cutest movie cat I’ve ever seen – but still.  Anyway, the absurdity of it all is what actually makes this comedy work.

'Descendants of the Sun' Could Have Been Awesome If the Rest of the Series Mirrored Its One Great Arc

Descendants of the Sun – also alternately known as The Sun’s Descendants and Descended from the Sun – is the biggest K-drama in years.  It’s a massive hit, not only in Korea, but internationally as well. In fact, due to its popularity, it has been projected by the Export-Import Bank of Korea that it’ll generate around one trillion KRW increase in revenue from its licensing (there are currently 32 countries – including the Philippines, of course – that have imported the show) as well as its indirect impact on the economy like surge in tourism, consumption of drama-related goods, and ads.

The 16-episode series centers on Captain Yoo Si-jin a.k.a. “Big Boss” (Song Joong-ki), leader of “Team Alpha”, an elite South Korean Special Forces unit often sent to conduct covert missions on foreign soil.  One day, during a furlough, he meets a doctor named Kang Mo-yeon (Song Hye-kyo) and they start dating.  However, they realize that their professions make it difficult for a relationship to blossom, and they broke up.

Sometime later, Dr. Kang is sent by her hospital to lead a medical mission to Uruk (a fictional country, but shot in Greece in real life).  There, she is reunited with Captain Yoo, whose “Team Alpha” has been recently attached to a regular South Korean army battalion serving as UN peacekeepers in the area.  In that foreign land, the two get the chance to rekindle their love.

'Hardcore Henry' Is a Visually Groundbreaking Action Movie

Hardcore Henry is about a man named Henry who wakes up in a flying laboratory above Moscow.  He has no memory of how he got there or his past, but he learns that he died and has been brought back to life as a cyborg by a woman who claims to be his wife, Estelle (Haley Benett).  But before Henry can learn more about his new life, a telekinetic psychopath named Akan (Danila Kozlovsky) and his henchmen storms in.  Henry manages to escape but Estelle is abducted.  With the help of the enigmatic Jimmy (Sharlto Copley), Henry begins adjusting to his new body, and goes on a tear to rescue his wife and stop Akan from unleashing his army of super-soldiers to the world.

The way Hardcore Henry was shot makes it a unique movie, at least visually.  The whole movie is filmed by a special camera mounted on the actors playing Henry (there are at least ten actors/stuntmen who shared the role of Henry).  Thus, the whole movie played out in first-person, in the perspective of Henry.  This has never been done before in a full-length feature, and the groundbreaking technique is what makes this movie appealing.

Watching and Enjoying 'Friends' for the First Time Years After It Ended Made Me Realize That It's a Timeless Classic

It has been a dozen years since the last episode of Friends aired, but it’s only recently that I got to become a fan.  For years, I’ve been aware that this show was – is – a big deal.  I had some familiarity of what it’s about: a sitcom about six friends hanging out in a café, engaging in dating and relationships and the like.  But I was never interested of checking it out.  The whole “dating and relationships and the like” turned me off.  I felt that its premise wasn’t my cup of tea, that I wasn’t part of the show’s target demographic.

Then there was a big buzz earlier this year that the cast will have a reunion.  The fans were excited.  But the “reunion” turned out to be a panel talk segment as part of a tribute show for director James Burrows, not a reunion episode as what everyone was expecting.  Anyway, around this time, during a session of Internet surfing (is the term “surfing” still used nowadays?), I caught a Youtube video that compiled some scenes from the show… and I found it utterly hilarious!  As a result, for the first time, I was strongly interested of watching the show.

'Kill Command' Is an Entertaining Sci-Fi Action Thriller

Set in the near future where, Kill Command is a sci-fi action thriller about a squad of marines led by Captain Bukes (Thure Lindhardt) who are transported to an off-the-grid site to participate in what seems to be a standard training exercise.  There, they are pitted against combat robots manufactured by Harbinger Robotics while an employee named Mills (Vanessa Kirby), a cybernetically-enhanced human being, accompanies them as an observer.  But things take a horrible turn when the robots suddenly begin retaliating lethally.  As the shocked marines fight for survival against an army of deadly high-tech robots, Mills is questioned whose side is she really on.

RE: Captain America Has Been a Hydra Sleeper Agent All Along???!!!

Helmed by Geoff Johns, the DC Rebirth relaunch, the latest attempt to clean up revamp the DC universe, kicked off this week.  And it has several jaw-dropping revelations and status quo changes.  The most notable ones are:

• Darkseid is now a baby.
• Wonder Woman has a twin brother.
• New 52 Superman dies.  Pre-New 52 Superman, who has been secretly living in the New 52 universe, will take his place.
• Batman had been actually fighting with three different Jokers all these years.
• Pre-New 52 Wally West – the best Flash ever – has been part of the Speed Force all this time.  Everyone in the DC universe has forgotten him, and he visits some people to remind them of the Pre-New 52 universe as well as to warn them of the unknown imminent threat that has been manipulating reality behind the scenes.  Unfortunately, no one remembers him, even the love of his life, Linda Park.  But in a powerful moment, just as his existence is fading, his mentor Barry Allen remembers him and pulls him back to reality.
• The unknown threat that has been responsible for the New 52 all along?  The Watchmen!   Yep, that Watchmen – or the nigh-omnipotent Dr. Manhattan, at least.

Still, even all of those put together can’t hold a candle to Marvel’s shocking bombshell in Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 –

'The Brothers Grimsby' Is a Cringe-Worthy Sasha Baron Cohen Misfire

The Brothers Grimsby, or just Grimsby for short, follows the story of a boneheaded English football yobbo named Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen) who lives in the poor fishing town of Grimsby.  His long-life dream is to reunite with his brother Sebastian (Mark Strong), whom he hasn’t seen in 28 years.  But when the opportunity comes, Nobby dimwittingly compromises his brother’s mission, as Sebastian happens to be a secret agent for MI-6.  What ensues is the brothers going on a crazy spy adventure to stop a major terrorist attack while a psychotic assassin is set loose on them.    

First and foremost, the story is incredibly lazy and stupid.  But way worse is the quality of its humor.  I’m not going to say that none of the jokes are hilarious – there are definitely some laughs to be had.  However, the majority of which are just disgusting, diminishing the comedic gratification that can be taken from them.

'X-Men: Apocalypse' Is Another Immensely Entertaining Installment to the 'X-Men' Franchise

First of all, I think X-Men: Apocalypse is just as good as 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past.  Thus, I’m a bit baffled that Apocalypse received mixed reviews (currently sits 51% at Rotten Tomatoes) while its predecessor – which I consider good but overrated – received wide acclaim (91% rating).  I believe the two basically has the same degrees of coherence (or incoherence), emotion, and spectacle.

Anyway, Apocalypse is the ninth installment (sixth if the two Wolverine movies and Deadpool are removed) to Fox’s X-Men franchise.  It’s set in 1983, ten years after the events of Days of Future Past.  Raven Darkhölme a.k.a. Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) has become a folk hero to the younger generation of mutants.  Charles Xavier a.k.a. Professor X (James McAvoy), with the assistance of Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast (Nicholas Hoult), has a thriving educational institute for mutants, the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.  And Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is attempting to live a quiet family life in Poland.  But when a powerful ancient mutant named En Sabah Nur a.k.a. Apocalypse (Oscar Isaacs) wakes up from millennia of slumber, desiring to destroy the world and to rebuild it under his rule, the former X-Men teammates are led to cross paths once again – but on different sides of the conflict.  As the fate of the world hangs in a balance, the reunited original X-Men teams up with a new batch of younger X-Men to stop Apocalypse.

'Legends of Tomorrow' Has Immense Potential, but Barely Justifies Its Necessity for Existing

When the trailer for Legends of Tomorrow came out, I was extremely pumped for it.  However, its first season – which has just finished – turned out being not as awesome as I was hoping it would be. It’s a mix of disappointments and delights.  There’s a small part of me that even wish this show didn’t happen, that these characters I like – namely Sara Lance, Atom, Captain Cold, Heatwave, and Martin Stein – would have thrived more in their parent shows, i.e. Arrow and The Flash.  Still, this show has terrific production value (for a TV show) and tons of promise, which keeps me remaining interested.

The first thing I didn’t like about this show is how the pilot didn’t reflect the footages of its promo trailer.  Now, I understand that those have been likely taken from its “unaired pilot” – the initial pilot episode shown to producers – and it’s not unusual for unaired pilots to be different from the official pilots shown on TV.  However, I love the implications of that promo trailer/unaired pilot more.  It featured Green Arrow and the Flash having an active part in assembling the Legends team.  It even showed the Flash taking part in a mission with some team members.  I was slightly crushed to discover that the pilot isn’t anything like that.  I was hoping Legends would help enrich the world building of Arrowverse along the way, and express synergy with its parent shows.  I saw little of this realized.

Hey, I Actually Like the Panned ‘Gods of Egypt’

Gods of Egypt takes place in an alternate world where the Earth is flat and mythological Egyptian gods live among mortals.  The gods are like humans in appearance, but they are of greater height, their blood is gold, and they can take animal-deity forms.  The movie starts with the desert god Set (Gerald Butler) seizing the throne of Egypt from the rightful heir, Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), god of the air.  Set beats Horus in a duel and takes off his powerful eyes.  But before Set can deliver the killing blow, Hathor (Elodie Yung) – the goddess of love, and Horus’ lover – begs Set to spare Horus’ life in exchange for her serving as his mistress.  A year later, a young human thief named Bek (Brenton Thwaites) steals one of Horus’ eyes from Set’s treasure vault, and brings it to the blind Horus.  Driven by different motivations, the mortal and the god form an unlikely alliance to free Egypt from Set’s tyrannical rule.

Jessica Chastain’s Fake Accent Is the Embodiment of ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ – Incredibly Bad but Entertainingly Hilarious

The Huntsman: Winter’s War serves as prequel, sequel, and spin-off of 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, a movie I’ve had no interest of watching.  Fortunately, I’ve been led to the impression that watching it isn’t essential in watching The Huntsman: Winter’s War at all.  So I went to watch the movie without watching its predecessor first.

The Huntsman: Winter’s War reveals the origin of Eric (Chris Hemsworth), the titular Hunstman, and then follows him after the events of Snow White and the Huntsman, as he reunites with his lost lover, Sara (Jessica Chastain), to end the reign of terror of the evil ice queen Elsa Freya (Emily Blunt) and her sister, Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron), who is brought back to life after her demise at the hands of Snow White.

‘Zootopia’ Is a Wonderful, Thought-Provoking Fable

Zootopia is a fable set in a world where mammals have evolved into an anthropomorphic society in which predators and prey live harmoniously together.  The city where this state is fully realized is Zootopia – a play on the words “zoo” and “utopia” (as if it wasn’t obvious already).

The plot centers on idealistic rookie bunny cop Judy Hopps (Ginnefer Goodwin) as she takes on a missing person case to prove her worth in the force.  Given only 48 hours to solve the case, Judy recruits a sly, hustling fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) to help her.  But as they go deeper into their investigation, the unlikely partners would learn that the case is more complicated than they’ve thought, as they discover harbored secrets that can tear Zootopia apart.

‘Castle’ Unfortunately Ends With a “Meh”

For the past four years (I started in 2012, binging season one to four before the start of season five), Castle has been one of my most favorite TV series.  I’ve been an avid follower of this series (I think I’ve actually seen all episodes) even when I begin to feel in its latter seasons that it was not as good as it was before.  But, as a whole, I’ve known this show to be a delight.  There are a lot of crime procedurals on TV nowadays, but Castle’s unique premise, balanced dose of fun and tension, clever writing, nerd culture-friendly themes, and extremely lovable cast made it stood out.

Lead actors Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic have perfect chemistry, making their respective characters, Richard Castle and Kate Beckett, one of the most outstanding duos as well as couples I’ve ever seen on screen.  I read a rumor that these two hated each other in real life.  I don’t believe it, but if it’s ever true, then it’s just an additional testament to their talents for making “Caskett” work impeccably.

‘Zoolander 2’ and ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2’ are Needless, Unimaginative Comedy Sequels

Zoolander 2 and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 are sequels to two of the best comedy films I watched in the early 2000’s.  Coincidentally, it took until 2016, more than a decade later, for both of them to follow up on their respective predecessors.  Now, the unwritten axiom about sequels is that the longer the span between the original movie and the sequel, the more required it is for the latter to have something fresh and better to offer (that’s why there’s a lot of expectations for Avatar 2).  Hence, I was curious if it’s necessary to get these two movies made after all these years.  And after watching these movies back to back (thus, I’m reviewing these in one post), I came to the unfortunate conclusion that neither of these sequels is good enough to justify its existence.

Top 20 Pokémon

2016 marks the 20^th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise.  Actually, there isn’t much hype about it.  There was a Super Bowl commercial about it, introducing a website (Pokémon20.com).  But I’m not aware of any special movie, game, or mega-event (except the Beta release of Pokémon Go, but that isn’t a tie-up to the anniversary) planned.  Anyway, this post is to commemorate this milestone.  Though I’m not really a die-hard fan (I even consider the Digimon anime superior to the Pokémon anime), I’m still a fan to an extent, since Pokémon is a huge part of my generation’s pop culture.  I’ve watched the anime – TV series and films – and played the early games.

So for Pokémon’s 20^th anniversary, it’s fitting to list down my twenty most favorite Pokémon.  They are ranked depending on the stylishness of their character designs and strengths; depiction in anime/manga; and/or the impact, service, and value they had on me when I was playing the games.

20.) RAICHU

Pikachu might be the face of the franchise, but I prefer Raichu over it.  Not only because it’s an evolution higher than Pikachu, but also because I think Raichu has a cuter appearance.

'10 Cloverfield Lane' Is Not the Sequel to 'Cloverfield'; Good Thing It's Great Nonetheless

10 Cloverfield Lane is the pseudo-sequel to the 2008 hit found footage monster film Cloverfield.  I say “pseudo-sequel” because it isn’t the direct sequel this movie was initially thought to be when it unexpectedly revealed its existence for the first time.  In fact, I find no real connections between the two films.  Of if there are any, they are too subtle and I didn’t find them.

By this, the Cloverfield franchise is seemingly functioning as an anthology film series rather than a shared universe serial – with each installment independent from other films.  On the other hand, future films might actually present details that will reveal a relationship between these films.  J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot Productions are being enigmatic about it, and it’s actually great.  The franchise maintains the element of surprise.

'High-Rise' Explores How a Utopia Can Quickly Become a Dystopia

Based on the novel of the same name written by J.G. Ballard, High-Rise tells the story of Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) after his recent move into a luxurious, high-tech, 25-story apartment complex built by the esteemed but enigmatic architect Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons).  Laing quickly settles in comfortably into his new high-rise environment, of constant parties and conveniences.  But, before long, the building starts to descend into anarchy as power failures and technical malfunctions occur more often, and brewing tensions emerge between the residents.

'Eddie the Eagle' Has a Refreshing Message to Share

Eddie the Eagle is a biopic about British ski jumper Michael “Eddie” Edwards, nicknamed by the media as “Eddie the Eagle” during the 1988 Winter Olympics.  It follows how Eddie, though he lacked the athleticism and talent, persevered to reach his ultimate dream of participating in the Olympics despite the others’ oppositions and lack of funding.

When I saw the trailer for Eddie the Eagle, I found it bland and unimposing.  I don’t think it was going to be a good, enjoyable movie.  Watching it, however, I was proven wrong.  It isn’t great and it’s clichéd, but it turned out being a feel-good and entertaining sports movie all in all.  Think Cool Runnings.  And, for the record, I loved Cool Runnings as a kid.  By the way, fun fact: the Jamaican bobsled team of Cool Runnings competed in the same Winter Olympics that “Eddie the Eagle” participated him.

Top 10 Most Read Posts of The Bernel Zone in the Past Decade (Also, Happy 10th Year Anniversary!)

On March 8, 2006, http://bernel.blogspot.com was launched with a doleful post about how hard it is to be a Laker fan, prompted by the team’s playoff loss to the Suns.  Ten years have passed and 600+ posts later, and I’m still updating it – and I can’t see myself stopping in the near future.

I don’t really get any tangible benefit from this.  Avid followers are very few.  The traffic is relatively minimal – averaging just 300-400 visits a day.  Adsense terminated my account way back in 2010.  Most prefer Wordpress over Blogger as platform.  But I will keep on blogging in http://bernel.blogspot.com as long as I could, for it has some intrinsic value to me.

In my 5th anniversary post, I implied that this blog somewhat serves as my diary – that though I don’t directly write about myself, through all the articles of various topics I write, a reader may have some glimpse (hence, the subtitle in the heading) where I am at that point of my life.  Personally, when I re-read the past posts I wrote, I immediately remember the particular thoughts, experiences, emotions, and motivations that led me to write them.

Furthermore, through its chronology, I – as well as others – can see how I grew as a writer and as an individual.  That’s actually another excuse reason why I don’t proofread my work much (other than the fact that I’m lazy).  And even when I discover an error in grammar, spelling, structure, and/or style on a past post, I just let it be.  I rarely edit it.  The mistakes are part of the process and experience – there’s something weirdly romantic about it.

Anyway, that’s me on why I blog.  Now, as for this site’s visitors, I can’t really tell how they approach my writings.  But what I can determine with certainty are the posts that have been popular to them (thanks to Blogger’s “stats” tab).  So, based on pageviews, here are The Bernel Zone’s most read posts (a case study on how much the Internet loves lists):

A Final Reminder to Christians Before This Election

This election season, I find it both saddening and amusing that some of my Christian friends in Facebook are more passionate in promoting their candidates than they’ve ever done with Christ.  While they share dozens of posts endorsing their candidates (or discrediting his or her opponents) each day, they have rarely or not at all shared Scripture or posts glorifying Jesus Christ.  They actively engage in debate against others who support the opposing candidates, and yet, when it comes to urging others to believe in Christ, they shy away from it.  It’s as if having their candidates win the election is the most important thing for them.

There’s nothing wrong with desiring a better government and supporting a candidate.  But here’s a friendly reminder: we Christians shouldn’t lose perspective!  Our earthly citizenship and what comes with it – suffrage, politics, patriotism, etc. – is far secondary to our pursuit of the matters relating to our heavenly citizenship.

Who I'm Going to Vote for President

To be honest, even though Election Day is just a few days away, I haven’t 100% made up my mind yet who to vote for president.  It’s probably going to be an “eleventh hour” decision for me.  But in this article, I will be stating how I’m evaluating the candidates – which might give you a glimpse of which candidate I’m leaning towards.

VBS Athletics

As what have become an annual tradition, we once again made a recording of our renditions of this year's Vacation Bible School songs...

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