Favorite TV Characters

As much as I love movies, I also have a soft spot for good television shows. I would like to share some of my favorite characters from some of my favorite shows. In no particular order. Enjoy.

Homer Simpson

 One of my favorite shows growing up. Guess I just have to start with The Simpsons. Who doesn't love Homer?

Tyrion Lannister

I recently started to watch 'Game of Thrones' and if you've seen it you know how addicting it gets. There's many memorable characters in the show, but Tyrion Lannister stands out the most for me.

Eric Cartman

Back to the land of animation. Cartman is selfish, manipulative, and evil. But, there's also something about him you can't help but love. And if you disagree, as Cartman would say, 'Screw you guys, I'm going home."

Hank Hill

When I think of America, I think of Hank Hill. My favorite Texan just had to make the list.

Carl

Speaking of America, Carl is freaking awesome. That is all.

Dexter Morgan

My favorite serial killer.

Walter White

My favorite drug dealer.

Larry David

Curb your Enthusiasm's star, Larry David is pretty pretty pretty pretty good.

Omar

The Wire has quickly become one of my favorite shows of all time. And Omar is one of the most memorable characters ever. 'All in the game yo, all in the game'

The Bluth

I just had to include my favorite family. It was just so hard to pick just one character, so I just picked the whole family. I've made a huge mistake.

Kramer

Seinfeld is a classic and you can't go wrong with Kramer.

JD

JD may just have the best hair on television.

Michael Scott

The world's greatest boss, Michael is the best manager ever. Not gonna lie, my eyes may have gotten a bit watery when he was leaving the office.

Dwight Schrute

Beets, bears, battle star galactica, Dwight.

Lily and Marshall

I have to admit, I have a huge crush on Lily. Well, on Marshall too. They may be the cutest couple ever.

Jack Bauer

If you are a fan of 24, you know how much of a bad ass Jack is. If you haven't watched 24, just know that Jack is the reason you are safe at your home reading this on your computer. You're welcome.

Charlie and Frank

I can't forget to mention Charlie and Frank from Sunny. They are the best.


Well, that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there's few I've left out. Who are your favorite characters? Feel free to share. And I think I may watch too much TV, just a little bit.

'Pacific Rim' (2013)

You can't help but feel the love Guillermo del Toro has for his craft in every one of his films. And 'Pacific Rim' is no exception. Its always a joy to watch the universe created by Guillermo del Toro's imagination. 'Pacific Rim' should be a clinic for making a perfect summer popcorn flick that is both fun to watch and with enough substance to not question your intelligence (hope Michael Bay was taking notes). A movie filled with giant robots and alien monsters fighting to take over control of earth somehow doesn't seem so ridiculous when guided under the direction of del Toro.
When a mysterious portal in the middle of the Pacific Rim opens up, creatures spring up from another universe with the sole intent of destroying everything in their sight. In order to combat these monsters, given the name 'Kaiju', mankind turn to giant monster fighting machines refer to as 'Jaegers'. As the intensity and the frequency of the Kaiju attacks increase, the slim hope of survival of earth rests solely on the Jaegers and the pilots who control them.
'Pacific Rim' is action packed fun perfect for the long summer days. I personally enjoyed Idris Elba's performance and his motivation speech is sure to pop up on motivation clips for future generations. If anyone's going to cancel the apocalypse, it might as be Stringer Bell.


IMDB-7.9/10
Metascore- 64/100
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics- 71%, Audience- 85%
Yong's Rating- 4/5 stars

World War Z (2013)

I loved the world created by Max Brooks' novel, 'War World Z'. It told the oral history of what came to be known as the zombie war. The collection of personal accounts of survivors were haunting and memorable. The film version was not quite what I imagined. I felt this movie had the potential to be so much more considering its kick ass source material.
Brad Pitt plays Gerry, a former UN investigator who is called back to duty when the world is faced with the zombie chaos. Gerry accompanies a scientist in search for patient zero in order to better understand the disease and find a way to stop it from destroying humanity. The journey is filled with action and drama. And yes, a lot of zombies. This film takes on a very fast pace. Once the zombies start coming, it just takes off. I was more interested in seeing the build up to the origin of how the zombie disease began and how things got out of hand. Instead what I saw was a sprint to find a cure. It was disappointing. I got to say, 'World War Z' has one of the most aggressive zombies I've ever seen. They are very angry group of zombies. Anger issues.
This movie isn't terrible, but it won't blow you away either. I'd take 'Shaun of the Dead' any day in a zombie movie battle. It's an enjoyable average zombie flick filled with enough action, drama, and zombie chase scenes to keep you interested.  



IMDB- 7.4/10
Metascore- 62/100
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics- 67% Audience- 86%
Yong's rating- 3/5 stars.

Life of Pi (2012)

Ang Lee's adaptation of Yann Martel's novel, 'Life of Pi' brings the magic of the novel onto the screen. Of course, no movie can capture the full details and the experience you get from reading a novel. But, 'Life of Pi' manages to showcase the highlights of the novel with masterful storytelling and stunning special effects.
The remarkable story of a young man's survival out on a ocean is the backdrop to a deeper storyline.   As you learn about Pi's journey from childhood to his grueling days out on the sea, you learn about one's curiosity for the truth. The search for what makes life, life. Even when one's faith is tested to its limits you find out that you always have a choice to believe and put your faith in what you hold to be true.
This film is just visually beautiful and while it may seem slow at time, I think most of you will enjoy the journey.

IMDB-8.1/10
Metascore- 79/100
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics- 88% Audience- 87%
Yong's Rating- 4/5 stars

Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)

'Star Trek: Into Darkness' continues where the first reboot of the franchise left off. When a series of terrorist attacks threaten the universe, the Enterprise and its crew goes in search for the terrorist. When the crew finally catches up to the terrorist, they find much more than they bargained for. The cast share excellent chemistry and really seem to work well together.
Yes, this movie has all the action and drama that a good summer blockbuster has. I found it very enjoyable even if the story line wasn't the greatest. I liked the first film much better, but this one's well worth a look for a fun time at the movies.

IMDB- 8.2/10
Metascore- 72/100
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics-87%, Audience- 92%
Yong's Rating- 3.5/5 stars

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

It is because of movies like 'Pan's Labyrinth' that I find myself continuing to go to the theaters and continuing to push the play button at home. On those rare occasions when you do come across a special film that reaches out and speaks to you on a personal level, you suddenly don't mind all those crappy movies that you had to sit through in order to get to that one magical film. I first watched 'Pan's Labyrinth' almost by accident. I was back home in Chicago from school on vacation. On a particular weekend night, having nothing to do, I decided to go to the theaters to catch a show. I had no idea what 'Pan's Labyrinth' was, didn't even know it was in subtitles. I decided to watch it because well it was about to start as I was buying the ticket. That was the night I was introduced to the wonderful fantasy world of Guillermo del Toro. That night, I wasn't so bummed out I had nothing else better to do than go watch a movie by myself on a Saturday night.
Set in Spain during 1944, 'Pan's Labyrinth' tells the story of an imaginative young girl who is forced to seek refuge in her imagination to escape from the horrors of her surroundings. Scared for her sick bed ridden pregnant mother and fearful of her sadistic military stepfather, the only friends Ofelia has are her books and her imagination. Ofelia's imagination takes us into a magical world of fairies, fauns, monsters, kings, and princesses. Even in the dark backdrop of war, a glimpse of hope is shown through a remarkable young girl's imagination. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing 'Pan's Labyrinth' yet, I'm very very jealous of you.  


IMDB-8.3/10 (#110 on the Top250)
Metascore- 98/100
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics- 96%, Audience- 90%
Yong's Rating- 5/5 Stars

Ruby Sparks (2012)

What if you can dream up your perfect girlfriend? And somehow she appeared right in front of you just the way you imagined her. Her smile, the way she moves and even her quirks are all you imagined her to be. Too good to be true? In 'Ruby Sparks', a young writer, Calvin's (Paul Dano) world is turned upside down when a mysterious girl appears in his house. Turns out the girl is Ruby (Zoe Kazan), the very girl he was writing about in his new novel. Once Calvin figures out the identity of the mysterious girl, he can't help but fall in love with her. The movie explores the rocky relationship between the writer and his work of fiction.
'Ruby Sparks' is an entertaining love story that is smart and unique. The story does take some time to develop, but if you let yourself get engaged with the storyline, I think you'll find yourself a very nice movie.

IMDB- 7.2/10
Metascore- 67/100
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics- 79%, Audience- 77%
Yong's Rating- 4/5 Stars

Happy New Years!!!

Happy New Years movie lovers! Hoping to watch many more movies in the new year. Hopefully more good than bad. Also I will try to update more often for all of my millions of followers.

Taken 2 (2012)

I'll get to the point. 'Taken 2' is horrible. Movies like this is why so many sequels get bad reputation. I actually liked the first 'Taken', but there was no reason for this movie to be made. None whatsoever (other than the studios making money). Why did you go watch this movie Yong? Thanks for asking. Well, a little thing called peer pressure. Everyone I was with wanted to see this movie. I warned them. No one listened. And we all paid a heavy price. There's really no point in trying to explain the plot, because if you've seen the previews you've seen it all. The plot is thin at best and everything is so predictable I had to catch myself from chuckling throughout the movie. The only thing that could've saved this movie was if Jack showed up and took Shannon back to the island. I know I'm really late with this review. My only regret is I might have prevented someone from having to go see this movie if I had written this earlier. That's my bad.

IMDB- 6.5/10
Metascore- 45/100
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics- 21% Audience- 56%
Yong's Rating- 1/5 Stars

Skyfall (2012)

The latest Bond film delivers everything you'd expect from a good Bond film. Fast paced action, an evil mastermind, cool gadgets, sexy girls, nice suits, and slick cars. Daniel Craig has already proven himself to be worthy to carry the Bond name with the previous two movies. 'Skyfall' just reminds us not to doubt him.
MI6's infrastructure is infiltrated and agency's existence is threatened by an evil genius. Bond's loyalty to M and his country is put to the test. Both M and Bond's pasts are explored and the two must face their past nightmares to get through their present adversity. I found 'Skyfall' to be enjoyable and whether you are a Bond fan or new to the franchise, there's something here for everyone to get their money's worth.


IMDB-8.1/10
Metacritic-81/100
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics- 92% Audience- 88%
Yong's rating- 3.5/5 Stars