Giovanni Strikes Back, The Goodbye Girl and Thor Enters Ragnarok

Welcome back to the blog! Did you remember to roll your clocks back an hour? I almost forgot which would have been disastrous. (It’s bad enough my internal clock is messed up again.) Today we have a massive Pokemon announcement which follows up last week’s blog and finally a discussion about a movie I watched recently, haven’t done one of them in a while. Got some other cool things in this blog too so if you’re not interested in Pokemon scroll down till you find a headline you like the sound off. I really want to make ZAK Entertainment like a magazine of sorts.

Before I head into the blog I have a little PSA. So I’m not sure if any of you have heard of this specific recall but I’m putting it on this blog because of how important this is. As of November 2^nd over 37 Million Kidde Plastic Handle Fire Extinguishers are now under recall due to malfunctions. Apparently deaths and injuries have occurred over the years because of these plastic handles malfunctioning as well as becoming clogged. Of course they’re only just now recalling these models and what’s worse is these models being recalled span back to 1973! These Kidde models were sold at places like Menards, Montgomery Ward, Sears, The Home Depot, Walmart and other various department, home and hardware stores. (I don’t know about Lowes don’t quote me on that.)

So don’t fret I have all the information you need through this government link which will explain things a lot better then I will. You can read all about this recall here at https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2018/Kidde-Recalls-Fire-Extinguishers-with-Plastic%20Handles-Due-to-Failure-to-Discharge-and-Nozzle-Detachment-One-Death-Reported?linkId=44227836

Now on with today’s blog!

Giovanni Strikes Back with Team Rainbow Rocket in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon!

Pokemon has been going strong for beyond 21 years now with now 28 main core series titles filled with adventures, trials and many Pokemon to capture, train and battle. Within these games are some rough and tough criminals looking to ruin your journey. We were introduced to the first of these criminal syndicates in the original games, Pokemon Red Version, Green Version (Japan) Blue Version and Pokemon Yellow Version. Team Rocket was a bunch of paper boy cap wearing goons who stole Pokemon and commited crimes for their boss Giovanni all in the name of profit and control over the Pokemon world. Team Rocket also dabbled in some cloning resulting in the main legendary of Red, Blue and Yellow Mewtwo. Team Rocket also played a major role in the anime in the form of Jessie, James and Meowth, three Team Rocket members who sought to steal Ash’s Pikachu for their boss because for some reason Giovanni wanted his own Pikachu… Actually I’m pretty sure Giovanni didn’t even want Pikachu and that Jessie and James are just a little dense.

Giovanni the original leader of Team Rocket, game wise anyway, disbanded Team Rocket at the end of Red and Blue (Firered and Leafgreen) after being defeated by the protagonist. Team Rocket wasn’t the most threatening Team in the world but they sure left an impression on younger me… Mostly for how easy they were. (Giovanni and the Admins weren’t that easy though) Anyway Team Rocket was hands down my favorite villain team in the Pokemon franchise, until Team Skull came around anyway. With Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon coming out in just a week these games are looking to be massive new adventures while incorporating some story elements from Sun and Moon.

I discussed it last week but Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will be bringing back an old organization after years of them being disbanded… Team Rocket is back! I’ve for the longest time wanted Team Rocket to make a comeback and while Heart Gold and Soul Silver were satisfying it was only a remake of their original revival. Now they’re back for real and we have a new trailer to showcase them.

…

Wow.

Yeah isn’t that pretty unprofessional of me? I am actually speechless after this announcement. The trailer opens up with a remix of Team Rocket’s battle theme from Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal and an opening sequence to the supposed battle against none other than Giovanni. Yes this time Team Rocket is led by none other than the original leader himself Giovanni. Seems he’s come out of training (Or has he? I’ll get to that theory in a second) and has revived Team Rocket himself under the new name of Team Rainbow Rocket which seems like a silly name but the logo is made up of Red, Blue, Green and Yellow which is a pretty sweet nod to the colors of the original games if you ask me. 

Following him are new grunts in outfits that are pretty much the same as the originals besides the cool new colors to the R logo. 

What’s really insane about this new Team Rainbow Rocket is the people joining Giovanni under this banner…  Not one, not two, but EVERY Villain leader to grace the core Pokemon series is returning as… Partners of Giovanni? I have absolutely no idea what is going on here, we got Archie, Maxie, Cyrus, Ghetsis (Dennis, this is an inside joke forgive me), and Lysandre making an appearance, but why?

Really this announcement while incredibly awesome does open up some new questions. Archie and Maxie turned good in ORAS but as you can clearly see this are the original Archie and Maxie from Ruby and Sapphire (Possibly their Emerald counterparts).

Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic depending on which version you played either disappeared into thin air or was trapped in the distortion world.

Ghetsis, leader of Team Plasma was presumably arrested so I guess he could have broken out but he’s wearing his Black and White outfit instead of the outfit he wore in the sequels.

Lysandre, leader of Team Flare… Well you know what happened to him.

Giovanni himself well at the end of Red and Blue he went to train and in the secret Heart Gold and Soul Silver event we find him behind a waterfall preparing to join Archer in the revival of Team Rocket before getting thwarted again by a kid who shouldn’t really be dealing with criminals but hey we’re Pokemon trainers we can handle it.

This is where the multiverse theory comes into play. Now we’ve had this multiverse pretty much confirmed since Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire thanks to Zinnia. Alternative universe were empowered even further with the Ultra Beasts and the Ultra Wormhole which allow travel between universes seemingly with the Ultra Beasts being the ones that dwell in between. Apparently there is a leak floating around that actually predicted Team Rainbow Rocket spot on which does make it for the most part legit but the leak also stated that the villains making an appearance all succeeded in their goals in their respective timelines, with Giovanni bringing them all together to take over the USUM world. With this in mind I don’t believe this Giovanni is from another dimension. If he had traveled from another world where he succeeded in his plans, why would he want to leave that world? This makes me believe this is the Giovanni we thwarted in the previous games, now making a return after years of training and planning. Somehow Giovanni has gained control of the Ultra Wormholes and perhaps he’s using that to bring these leaders together to finally allow him to succeed in his goal of taking over the world. I can see these leaders not cooperating fully with Giovanni however. All these big egos in one building? There’s sure to be some scraps happen between the leaders, which will probably lead to some hilarity.

Seems Ultra Wormholes will play a role in this sudden Team Rocket revival as seen by this amazing poster which I can say is illustrated by none other than who I assume to be Ken Sugimori, because who else would draw something this magnificent? What we can also take away from this poster is the fact it seems Guzma the boss of Team Skull will be teaming up with us! Spoilers for Sun and Moon but in those games we saw Guzma slowly take a bit of a turn from a bad boss villain to someone willing to make a change in his life so if he takes that turn even further we could have a seriously powerful ally on outside when we conquer the new Team Rainbow Rocket. 

Back to the trailer we get to see one of Giovanni’s Pokemon he’ll have at his disposal and it’s a nostalgic call back to the first movie… He has Mewtwo on his team. I kid you not.

In the anime and the manga we see Giovanni as being kind of obsessed with the mythical Pokemon Mew which results in him funding scientists to create a more powerful clone of Mew, Mewtwo. In the Manga and first Anime movie Giovanni temporary has control over Mewtwo before he goes renegade on him. So yeah these two have a bitter history and it seems poor Mewtwo has gotten himself into Giovanni’s clutches again. I wonder if this means the other leaders will have their respective title Legendaries on their team.

So you know what this means? We have not just Team Skull and Aether to handle but Team Rocket, the Ultra Recon Squad (Who seem to be kind of good guys so maybe not them), Team Magma, Team Aqua, Team Galactic, Team Plasma AND Team Flare to handle in this game… That’s insane.

What’s even more insane is the fact that every Legendary to date will be catchable in these games, yes EVERY Legendary except for Mythical Pokemon will be catchable via Ultra Wormholes and it seems these Ultra Wormholes take you to locations similar to the Legendaries’ original spot from their game of origin as seen by this small snippet of Mewtwo standing on a pedestal in a cave, similar to where he was in Red and Blue. Some of these legendaries will be version exclusive and it seems the mechanics behind obtaining these legendaries is similar to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Ultra Sun will have Raikou, Ho-Oh, Latios, Groudon, Dialga, Heatran, Tornadus and Xerneas as its exclusives while Ultra Moon will have Entei, Lugia, Latias, Kyogre, Palkia, Regigigas, Thundurus, Zekrom and Yveltal as its exclusives. Some Legendaries like the Legendary Birds and Mewtwo won’t be version exclusive while some Pokemon such as Rayquaza will require you have both games and catch both Kyogre and Groudon so prepare to get both versions if you want to catch them all.

Finally this trailer reveals a new battle facility called the Battle Agency! For as long as I can remember I’ve always loved using Rental Pokemon. Pokemon Stadium allowed you to rent all currently available Pokemon and with Pokemon Emerald came the Battle Frontier in which held the Battle Factory which used a Pokemon rental system. Well that concept is making a return in this Battle Agency with a bit of a twist. It seems you become secret agents of sorts with sweet sunglasses included when you enter this new facility. The battle format is 3v3 single format and it seems to be integrated into the Festival Plaza with online functionality added. Legendaries will also be available for rental as well. I don’t really know any more details on this particular mode but it looks pretty sweet.

Thought Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were just copy and pasted versions of Sun and Moon? Bet you don’t anymore. These games are going to be absolutely amazing and I have a feeling there’s some more details Game Freak isn’t spilling just yet. Apparently more information will be dropping November 10^th before the game releases November 17^th.

You can check out the Japanese overview trailer below or by clicking here for some more insight on what the American trailer revealed!

Trust me guys the Pokemon filled blogs will end soon enough I know I’ve been bogging you guys down with it lately but man these games are really hyping me up and there’s so much news to cover. Anyway there’s more Pokemon to come later but until then I haven’t really discussed any movies in a while but a few nights ago I rewatched a movie that’s a timeless classic and a personal favorite of mine and my Mums.

Re-watching An Old Romantic Comedy Film: The Goodbye Girl.

Anyone remember “The Goodbye Girl”? Well if you don’t this 1977 movie, Written by Neil Simon and Directed by Herbert Ross starred Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason in probably one of the best Romantic Comedies to ever be made without it being over dramatic like some can be.

The movie takes place in Manhattan, New York and Marsha Mason plays Paula McFadden an unemployed dancer who lives with her 10-year-old daughter Lucy (Played by Quinn Cummings) and her life soon flips on its head when her boyfriend, famous actor Tony (Played by nobody as he’s never shown in the movie) dumps her and sublets her apartment to a struggling wannabe Broadway actor Elliot Garfield played by Richard Dreyfuss. Hilarity is ensured as Paula fights to keep her apartment and struggles to live with Elliot who has some strange habits.

(The movie is not actually in Black and White)

I don’t know what it is about this movie but it’s so memorable you’ll want to watch it over and over again. I don’t really watch newer romantic comedies (Mostly because I’m not aware of any, it’s not a popular genre anymore it seems) but this along with a couple of other classics which I’ve discussed in the past such as The Money Pit is a much watch. Mum’s love for this movie goes even further and I’m pretty sure she quotes this movie quite often, it’s just that memorable. The dynamic between Elliot and Paula is amazingly written and unmatched against other romcom dynamics in other movies. The characters are all iconic, charming and memorable with such a down to earth story that actually has some worthwhile metaphors for living life fluttered inside of this flick. 

Problem is this movie while being great has actually been quite hard to get hold of. We’ve been watching it through VHS since its release (I wasn’t born when it was released, FYI) and could never find a DVD or digital version of it, until a few days ago. Yes it’s iTunes to the rescue once again! I’m pretty sure it was not on iTunes before in any shape or form but now it’s on iTunes in all its glory. It’s currently $9.99 to buy and while it’s only in SD format (HD would make it look pretty bad to be honest, it’s an old movie.) it’s worth the buy. You can get this movie by clicking the link below! Go add it to your collection.

Mjolnir, to me! 

Getting Pumped for New Marvel Movies, Thor Ragnarok and Black Panther!

Thor Ragnarok as of last Friday has now released in theatres and the reviews are praising the movie. It seems Thor is taking a more light hearted approach will still having the hammer slinging action Thor is known for. Thor is now up against Hela the Goddess of Death as she pretty much makes him her play toy, destroying Mjolnir presumably. In order to take her down Thor will need Loki’s help once again as well as Valkryie and an unexpected Green ally in the Hulk. It’s about time The Hulk gets more screen time to be honest and it seems to me this movie is more of a Hulk: Ragnarok rather than a Thor: Ragnarok. Really looking forward to this movie and I’m assuming for non theatre goers this movie will be releasing February on DVD/BluRay/Digital.

This year seems to be another big year for Superhero movies with Justice League coming out within two weeks and Wonder Woman, Spiderman Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 already being released to critical acclaim. We do however have one more movie coming out soon that I’ve not really talked about much, it also has a brand new trailer released for it as well… Black Panther which will be releasing February of 2018 in theatres. I’ve neglected to actually discuss this new trailer so let’s go ahead and dive right in.

Well that’s actually different from what I expected. I was expecting a more traditional and ancient setting but this is a really high tech civilization we’re entering its pretty crazy. Despite this it still seems to be including bits of African culture and magic in with the high tech action. This actually looks pretty awesome and man does Black Panther have a sweet suit. Chadwick Boseman returns as King T’Challa after his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War.

Oh yeah and Bilbo Baggins… I mean Martin Freeman is reprising his role of Everett K. Ross in this movie as well so it’ll be interesting how that pans out but I would of thought Captain America would of played a role in this movie as well due to the nature of Civil War’s credit scene but it appears he’s not casted in the movie, interesting.

Well that’s all for today! I hope this blog wasn’t too long for you but man there’s a lot to discuss lately and it’s mostly news. All the crazy news and announcements should die down soon though so we can get into a more jingle kind of mood for the upcoming Holiday season. For now I'm leaving you guys for now so until then...

This was ZAK Entertainment

See you next week!