Today has been a pretty hectic day. My wrist decided to just hurt whenever I moved my hand in a different direction. Up and down, side to side. Didn't make a difference! It hurt either way. It hurt so bad, that I was thinking about going to the ER to have it looked at, but I decided to sleep on it (not the wrist, obviously, but the thought of going to the ER).
If my wrist was still aching when I woke up, I would call my doctor to have it looked at. However, after a day of work, my wrist is not hurting as much as yesterday. So I might just have strained it too much, and after a relaxing day off yesterday, it's significantly better.
Speaking of work, today was one of those days, where things just went my way. Time flew by, and one of the women there, really showed an interest in getting to know me. I am going to take things VERY slowly, since I don't know if she's just being friendly, or if she wants something from me. All I know is, that she's extremely nice to talk to, so I would definitely not say no to her.
Anyway, enough about that! Tomorrow is my last work day of this week, since I have the weekend off. It's going to be amazing to just relax and sleep in! I really need that!
Tomorrow is Friday, so you know what that means: The Grand Tour! I will give my honest thoughts about that after I have seen the episode!
I was meant to write this last week, on Friday, but life got in the way.
Now I have the time to write down what I think of the episode!
This time on The Grand Tour - it's challenge time! Jeremy, Richard and James are testing three pick up trucks, a Mercedes-Benz X-Class, a Volkswagen Amarok and a Ford DangerRanger. Jeremy is driving the Amarok, James is driving the Mercedes-Benz, and Richard is - predictably, perhaps - driving the Ford.
During their test, the guys are doing their best to prove, that the car they each are driving, is the best one in a developed country. That include tests such as tearing down statues, providing vital help to a village, and delivering fuel to a helicopter.
Back in England, Jeremy is testing the new Jaguar XE SV Project 8, which is a 5 door sedan, with 600 angry, snorting horses available. The test only shows me, that I want one of those cars! It's magnificent!
This is the Jaguar Project 8As with the other episodes, there are some gags and fun stuff, and you can just tell they enjoyed making this season.
All in all, this episode will land on a solid 8/10.
The other day, I was browsing Steam, and I came across a game, that sounded extremely interesting. It was called Government Simulator, and the description read the following:
"Government Simulator is a is a simple economic and political simulation game based on real-world data. Take control of a whole country, like the USA, Germany, France, Russia, or Austria. Change laws, taxes and budgets based on real world statistics and data, and see what happens."
There are no missions, and the game is purely text based. But never the less, I bought the game and tried to see if I could fix America.
The first few things I did were:
Implemented strict gun control. Like VERY strict! Up to a point where it was a crime to own one, unless you possessed a hunting license
Invested heavily in education
Implemented Free Abortion
Did some tweaks to certain laws
Ramped up the tax bracket for the wealthiest Americans
Gave tax breaks to low-income families
And what did all that result in?
Debt completely wiped out, and I created a 13.9 billion dollar surplus.
Unemployment rate was at 4%
Approval rating: 100%!
Keep in mind, that it's only a video game, and thus there is no way to tell if that would happen if the US did the same as I did in the game. But still, it makes you think.
Next time, I will try to tackle Russia!
A few days ago, I began a new show called Designated Survivor. I reviewed the pilot episode, and I have now just finished season 1.
So was it worth it? Was the show as good as the first episode was?
Yes and no. Let me explain in detail!
I went into Designated Survivor with a curious mind. If Kiefer Sutherland is in it, then surely it wouldn't be bad. Right?
It's primarily a political series, with a lot of political doings in it. It also has some humor, and a fair bit of action. But the action scenes are somewhat lacking in excitement. Sure, there are shootouts, fistfights and car chases, but they are so poorly executed, that I was bored by them. I have seen better shootouts, fistfights and car chases in some YouTube shows.
The political bits is where Designated Survivor is best. It is extremely interesting to follow, and I am always enjoying the discussions they have. They use blackmail, extortion and all sorts of other political things, which makes for some excellent drama.
It has a very strong "24" element to it, but only on the political side. The action is sub-par to 24's excellent action scenes.
How about the actors? Surely big names such as Maggie Q, Natascha McElhone, Kal Penn, Italia Ricci and Kiefer Sutherland himself can make up for the dismal action scenes? Some of them do. Kal Penn is excellent as the speechwriter/special advisor/press secretary. I always enjoy seeing him on screen. Fun fact: He served as a consultant on the show, due to his work for the Obama administration. Kiefer Sutherland is great as the cabinet member turned President, and Maggie Q does a decent job as FBI Agent Hannah Wells.
While the show started off strong, is failed in the second half. I am not sure if I will begin season 2. The trailer will have to convince me.
All in all, season 1 gets a middle of the road 5. I guess I was expecting too much of the show.
A few years ago, I heard about a new Kiefer Sutherland show called Designated Survivor, but what IS a Designated Survivor?
"In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is an individual in the presidential line of succession, usually a member of the United States Cabinet, who is arranged to be at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the President, the Vice President, and the other officials in the line of succession are gathered at a single location, such as during State of the Union addresses and presidential inaugurations."
An interesting thing, which makes for good tv! The lead actor is Kiefer Sutherland, who has a history of doing political action series, because he was of course Jack Bauer! The all-American badass!
Anyway, back to the series!
I finally got to see the very first episode, and the story is pretty straight forward: After a devastating attack on the US Capitol, that kills the President and every other members of Congress, low-level Secretary of Urban Housing and Development, Thomas Kirkman suddenly becomes the President of The United States of America. It is now up to him, so lead the country and to calm the public, and also to find out who is behind the attack.
I really enjoyed the pilot, and it's easily a binge-worthy series. Kiefer Sutherland is, naturally, great. His wife Alex, played by Natascha McElhone, is growing on me, even though it's the first episode.
Kal Penn is Seth Wright, a speechwriter, who is sceptical of Thomas' ability to lead the country.
This has very strong 24 vibes to it, and I absolutely love it, since 24 is my all time favourite tv series.
I am excited to see how this season pans out. There are 21 episodes, so plenty of time to get rocked, rolled, thrilled and awed!
The pilot episode gets an 8/10 from me!
Indonesian films are always bonkers. The Raid and The Raid 2 are perfect examples of that.
This film pairs Iko Uwais and Joe Taslim again, after their previous movie, The Raid. Other actors include Julie Estelle, Zack Lee, Sunny Pang, Abimana Aryasatya, Salvita Decorte and Asha Kenyeri Bermudez.
So what is it about?
Joe Taslim plays Ito, a gangland enforcer, caught amidst a treacherous and violent insurrection within his Triad crime family upon his return home from a stint abroad. When Ito turns his back on the Triad, they send their rising star, Arian, played by Iko Uwais, to kill Ito. Ito and Arian are old friends, which makes it a bit awkward, to say the least.
The movie opens with a bang, literally. What follows is a 2 hour brutal film, where there is a lot of blood, dismemberments, guts, broken bones and crushed skulls. The movie is so bloody, that it earned an NC-17 rating, which is only given to movies too violent and brutal to get an R rating.
The acting is great, and the fight scenes are intense. Asha Kenyeri Bermudez does a fantastic job as the child, who Ito takes under his protection.
While I was watching it, I kept thinking "That was absolutely disgusting" several times over. It is definitely not for the squeamish kind of people, and it would most definitely be banned in certain places, due to the graphic violence in the film.
Like I said in the beginning, Indonesian films are ridiculous, but in a good way.
This movie earns a 9/10 from me!
It's Saturday, so it is time for part 2 of The Grand Tour's Colombia special.
When we left the action, the guys had just finished taking photographs of a jaguar, and they are now facing the task, of photographing a bear, a condor and a hippopotamus.
So far, the trio of cars have been performing well, not suffering any major breakdowns at all. But the terrain gets even more brutal, and the altitudes are getting higher.
As per usual, there are many gags and laugh out loud moments. One of them comes 8 minutes into the episode, where James and Richard poke fun of Jeremy. Good stuff!
It is easy to see the chemistry between the three guys, and I really enjoy their witty banter back and forth. I also have a small correction: Hammond was driving a Chevrolet C/K Silverado, which was shipped from the US to Columbia at night.
But anyway, my honest opinion about this Colombia special, is that it sits up there with the best of the specials.
This episode, for me, gets an 8 out of 10!
I finally got to see the new Transformers spinoff movie, centered on the yellow Beetle, and later a yellow and black Camaro known as Bumblebee, or B-127 back on Cybertron.
The movie follows Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), a 17 year old girl, who is on the verge of turning 18. She has some issues, namely a family, that doesn't really care about her, and three bullies at school. She finds Bumblebee on a marina, and takes him in. At first, she doesn't know that it's Bumblebee. All she sees is a tired, banged up old Beetle. After inspecting his undercarriage, she discovers a face, making Bee transform.
The opening of the movie is great. It shows some war on Cybertron, and it instantly kicks into action with explosions and gunfire. Once Bee comes to Earth, he goes into hiding, which is how he gets to the marina. Bee is not alone in going to Earth, as two Decepticons also come to Earth, to hunt Bee down.
Apart from the impending two Decepticons, Shatter and Dropkick, Bee and Charlie also has the leader of Sector 7, colonel Jack Burns (John Cena) on their heels, and thus begins an epic adventure, full of fantastic action sequences, lots of emotion and a fair bit of humor.
Other actors include John Ortiz, Angela Davis and Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
Overall, I liked this movie a lot. It is said that this is the best of the Transformers movies, and I agree. Something about this movie is just right. It lacks the cringe elements that Michael Bay stuffed into his movies, and it's nice to see a Transformers movie, without overly sexualising the lead actress.
So for all that it's worth, after nearly two hours of epic sci-fi action, I am gonna give this movie a 9/10.
I was contacted again regarding that tv series I was an extra for, and they need more extras for a party scene. They are shooting the scene on Monday, from 2 pm to around 11 pm. I really want to do it, but I can't, since I have work at 6 am on the following day.
If it was on a day where I had a day off, I would totally do it!
So for now, I will let it pass.
Also, happy Government Reopening evening, all!
It is Friday, which means it's time for my favourite car show - The Grand Tour! This time it's a special in two parts!
The trio is in Columbia, on a mission from Amazon: They have to take pictures of wildlife for an Amazon screensaver. Among the animals is a hippopotamus, a jaguar and a bear. No car show is complete without cars, so what did they pick for the journey?
Clarkson went with a Jeep Wrangler, May went with a tiny little Fiat Panda 4X4, and Hammond went for a 7.2 liter Chevrolet Silverado 2500 monster truck!
On the way there, they naturally had some problems and breakdowns along the way, but also some hairy stuff. What that is, I will not spoil here.
Being a two-parter, the conclusion comes tomorrow, but I cannot wait to see how this episode pans out. Hopefully they will get some spectacular stuff!
This episode gets a 8/10 from me. It doesn't really crack the 10 mark, since it lacked something. Something I cannot put my finger on.
The Grand Tour Season 3 is streaming now on Amazon Prime!
Tomorrow is the day when I am going to shoot my scenes as an extra, and I am very excited! I need to find the clothes I need to wear tomorrow, so I will most likely spend about an hour figuring out what to wear. They were very clear about the type of clothes I have to wear: No advertising on it of any sort.
That means I cannot have a band hoodie on, my Star Wars hoodie or any merchandise of any kind. It makes sense, but 80% of my wardrobe is band shirts, or shirts that advertise some band or product. I do have a sweatshirt that has some writing, that isn't an advertisement, so I could use that. I also need to find some shirts, but I have several of those, so that will not be a problem.
Am I ready to dive into the world of tv? Absolutely! I am going to do my best work possible, and hopefully I will be in the series, and not edited out.
Sidenote: I have been bingewatching a YouTube channel called Dead Meat, where they count all the deaths in horror films, and films with a lot of deaths. I recently watched the kill count of The Belko Experiment, and that movie is messed up!
Something new for this blog: A review of a 13 episode series! This time, I am reviewing The Grand Tour Season 3.
The first two seasons were full of fun, amazing and sometimes cringy stuff, but the opening scene in season one still remains the best things I have ever seen!
So what does season 3 have in store for us? A bit of violence, a bit of speed and a LOT of momentum! Episode 1 opens up with the trio entering the tent, and Jeremy Clarkson presents a montage of what to expect over the next 13 weeks.
After that, it's time for the best thing ever: Three violent, screaming muscle cars: The Dodge Demon, the Ford Mustang RTR and the insane Hennessey Exorcist, which is a Chevrolet Camaro boosted to 1000 horsepower. The trio aims to find out which of the cars is the best one, and to some extend, which one is worth it the most at its given pricepoint. To figure that out, they take the cars to Motor City - Detroit!
After a series of tests, it's back to the tent, and on to conversation street. It's then time for a test drive of the McLaren Senna, which is such an amazing piece. That car is mad! It's then back to the test in Detroit, and the Demon has some surprisingly annoying features to it. What those features are, I will not spoil here, in case you want to see the episode for yourself
I really enjoyed the episode, and I really look forward to the next one in a weeks time!
The Grand Tour Season 3 is available now on Amazon Prime!
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