Twas The Blog Before Christmas: Christmas Lights, 21st Century Disney and Netflix Christmas Movies

This is it, the final stretch. Santa is double checking his list and making sure his inventory is in check before he zooms out with Rudolph leading the way. Christmas is officially one week away and snow is already falling in certain parts of the world. Surprisingly it’s absolutely freezing here I did not expect it to get so cold so fast but apparently Jack Frost is having a field day this year.

Unlike last year this is going to be the only blog before Christmas as well as the last blog until New Years, yeah I'm taking a leave of absence for a week. So as the last blog before Christmas and the last blog of the year let's leave it off with a bang, right? Actually there isn't too much to discuss on this blog (I’m lying there’s something big to discuss) so instead I have the first of two videos that i’ve been waiting to make all year, the Christmas Lights Extravaganza 2017!

If anyone is a veteran ZAK Entertainment reader you’ll be aware I did a three part video series of travel montages using footage I filmed while out with my family looking at Christmas lights, a tradition we’ve upheld all my life. This year's isn't going to be a part three but the lights are just as awesome as ever. Today part 1 will be up for you guys to watch and this Friday December 22nd part 2 will drop. So without further ado let's get ready to jingle!

Everyone enjoy? I haven't yet mastered the whole keeping my camera to stay focused on the lights. My auto focus wouldn't work very well so I had to switch to manual focus to try and keep it focused on the lights, which isn't easy on this camera. I really enjoy doing these videos so expect this to be a ZAK Entertainment tradition. Stay tuned for Part 2 this Friday! There may be a secret part 3 if we get to go out on another trip but I'm not making any promises.

Moving on I have some massive news to discuss, that is one of the most game changing buyouts the entertainment industry has seen in years. As a lot of you are already aware the Walt Disney Company will be purchasing a majority of 21st Century Fox’s assets including TV properties, Movie properties and more for $52.4 billion in stock.

What does this mean? Disney will acquire 20th Century Fox’s massive film library including a Film Rights to movies as well as intellectual properties held by 20th Century, which means only one thing. Disney/Marvel now has the rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four back under it’s belt! Yes in a feat that seemed almost impossible it actually has happened. 20th Century Fox’s studios will also now operate under Disney similar to LucasFilms and Marvel Studios. So does this mean we’ll be seeing a 20th Century Disney? Who knows. 

Disney will also purchase many of Fox’s TV networks as well as properties such as The Simpsons. Yeah remember that episode where The Simpsons predicted Disney buying out Fox? Yeah I don't either but apparently it happened in the episode “Wish You Dish Upon A Star” which first aired on November 8th, 1998. Remember those Disney parodies? Yeah you can now say the Simpsons were making fun of it’s future parent company.

Funny enough this isn't the first time Disney has bought assets from Fox, know what I'm on about? Yes the buyout of Fox Family (Which was something Murdoch bought from CBN anyway) and Saban’s properties was a previous deal made with the two companies

There's quite a lot of other nitty gritty involved in this deal but what does this leave Fox with? Well Murdoch is basically going back to basics, being left with his news corporation and sports networks in which he’ll be spinning off into a separate business.

There is a big but involved in his however, this buyout has not been approved by the United States Department of Antitrust Division and the European Commission. While this deal seems awesome in regards to Marvel it could still fall flat just the same as the AT&T and Time Warner merger did. With a merger of two massive film studios the possibility of this merger actually being approved now teeters on the edge. 

Back to Marvel I'm extremely excited to see the possibility of the Fantastic Four finally being interpreted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The four residents of the Baxter Building have been my long standing favorite heroes in the Marvel universe so it’ll be incredible to see how Marvel reboots the franchise and integrates it into the MCU.

We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds but I can see a lot of good coming out of this buyout despite it being such a disruption in the industry.

Speaking of Disney… Star Wars The Last Jedi has officially launched in theaters, just in time for Christmas! The latest part in the Star Wars saga is here, continuing after the events of The Force Awakens. Rey has now begun training under Luke Skywalker, previously missing and while learning she seems to be discovering something about herself, something dangerous. I haven't seen the movie myself so I can't review it yet but apparently Carrie Fisher was done Justice in this film in her role as Leia. You can watch it now so go grab yourself some tickets and get ready to experience one of the biggest movies of the year!

Christmas is only one week away so you’re probably indulging in holiday classic movies. If you have Netflix you actually have a pretty decent selection of Christmas movies available to watch this year so for this next segment I'm going to list of some of my personal favorite Christmas movies on Netflix that I believe you should watch in this next week.

Tim Allen is forever in my heart as the voice behind Buzz Lightyear but he’s also pretty well known for being Santa Claus in The Santa Clause movie series. Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin, a father of one who’s life is turned upside down when he accidentally causes a man in a Santa suit to fall of their roof Christmas night. In a crazy turn of events Scott ends up having to take the place of the man, who is revealed to be the real Santa and become Santa himself, to his own disbelief.

I absolutely adore this series of films, especially the first movie. It doesn't have the greatest reviews in the world but it’s a Christmas thrill ride from start to finish. I don't find the second and third movies as great as the first but they too are filled with laughter and Christmas spirit. You can also purchase this movie on iTunes as well as the other two by clicking the link below.

Next up is something more on the green side, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I’ve discussed Jim Carrey a few months ago and I have to admit I love his version of The Grinch just slightly better then the original animation (And even the book itself). This movie takes the basic story of The Grinch and fleshes it out, giving a backstory to The Grinch and making you realize he’s not such a bad guy after all. Of course Jim Carrey brings his humor to the table as well, which leads to some hilarity as well as a funny dig at his own director, Ron Howard. Jim Carrey actually manages to turn a pretty unlikable character into a funny and actually almost relatable character while still keeping that Christmas hating grump attitude. I believe I reviewed this movie last year but I have nothing but praise for this movie. It's one of my favorites that I loved watching every year as I grew up.

Switching over to animation Netflix has, like always the three Mickey Mouse Christmas specials. The first one is of course Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas which is made up of three classic original stories that tell some worthwhile morals as well as providing Christmas joy to any Disney kid, or me who gets really nostalgic when watching this.

Then there’s Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas which is a 2004 sequel to the previously mentioned movie. Until I watched this on Netflix I actually had no idea this movie even existed but it’s just as magical as the first movie and the CGI is actually pretty good for 2004.

Finally out of the three Mickey movies is Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. House of Mouse is one of my favorite cartoons as a kid, bringing together cameos of all the Disney animated characters as well as playing old Disney Cartoons. Well this special plays a bunch of old Christmas animations as well as the infamous Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol which originally released in 1983.

Next up is White Christmas, which is a Christmas classic by all means. Starring Bing Crosby, Phil Davis, Rosemary Clooney (The more famous Aunt of George Clooney), Dean Jagger, Danny Kaye, Mary Wickes and Anne Whitfield. This Christmas Musical movie stars a singing and dancing duo played by Bing and Danny who team up with a sister act played by Rosemary and Vera-Ellen to perform a Christmas show to show a rural inn in Vermont from going broke. This movie is sweet, sentimental and just plain fun and it really has aged well over the years. Bing Crosby brings his amazing singing talents to the table with his White Christmas song that has become a worldwide classic of a song as well as the best version despite not being the original cover of the song.

Finally there’s two animated movies which I discovered last year and immediately watched again this year. Santa’s Apprentice and The Magic Snowflake.

Santa’s Apprentice features Santa Claus nearing retirement. He is forced to find out of a pool of a million children an apprentice to take over as the new Santa. Some of the requirements are however that the kid had to be named Nicholas, be an orphan and have a pure heart. These two movies follow Nicholas as he copes with what’s happening in his new life as well as Santa coping with his eventual retirement and this movie is beautifully animated to boot.

All of these movies are available to watch on Netflix so check these movies out over the next week as you await Santa to visit on the eve of Christmas.

For now I’m going to head out, you’ll see me again Friday for part 2 but until the next blog I bid you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Please enjoy yourself but also stay safe during this next week. This is the end of the blog for this year and while I had to make some changes to the blog schedule this year was amazing regardless, we discussed a lot this year so let’s hope we got even more to discuss next year. Actually I have a large backlog that stems back to earlier on this year so I don’t think that’ll be a problem.

This was ZAK Entertainment

See you next year!

Merry Christmas!

The Flash Returns in Season 4 & Jim Carrey Relives the Year Of 1999

Welcome back to ZAK Entertainment! How are you guys doing this fine Monday? (If you’re like Garfield probably not so well but hey Lasagna is always nice.) Today I got The Flash, a new Netflix movie and a new Pokemon event so let’s dive right into this week’s blog which I actually didn’t start working on until the weekend despite the fact this weekly blog was supposed to allow for me to work on it a little over the entire week, hurray for life!

The Flash Makes an Amazing Comeback in Season 4 Episodes 1 & 2

I didn't get to talk about it last week but finally as of last Tuesday The Flash has raced back into the CW TV lineup! Minor spoilers may be ahead in this topic so be wary, i’ll try to keep things to a minimum.

The first two episodes of Season 4 take place 6 months after the battle against Savitar and Barry’s heartbreaking departure into to the raging Speed force. Team Flash are still continuing their fight against Meta-Humans and Crime in Central City and although they have Wally West taking up the mantle as the fastest man alive they seem to be finding themselves shorthanded, especially when a samurai comes knocking on their door, actually he pretty much kicks the door to Central City down. This Samurai, which we saw and speculated about in previous trailers for this season, has some weird tech up his sleeve and his Katanas pack a huge punch. 

Apparently he’s come to find The Flash, aka Barry who is currently AWOL. Wally tries to take up the mantle of his former mentor with Iris taking command of the Team Flash team from Star Labs but Cisco finds himself missing his old friend and their former teammate. So of course Cisco is at work trying to come up with a plan to bring Barry back AND stabilize the Speed Force.

Well spoiling things slightly, his attempts work and Barry returns from the speed force without any crazy side effects. Only problem is Barry comes back a little… Different. Not including the sweet facial hair (Which seems very tidy for someone who spent 6 months in the Speed Force, kind of wish my beard could grow that nice without trimming it) Barry seems awfully scrambled from his time away. His speech is full of nonsense and he starts to write multiple scientific symbols across the wall in some sort of language/code.

Basically this first episode is more so dealing with Barry’s sudden return rather then him being missing so a lot of mixed emotions are thrown around, especially from Iris and Joe. This episode was a pretty awesome kickoff to Season 4 despite Barry only really being gone for 15 minutes of airtime (Flashpoint didn't last that much longer either) I actually don't think it was time for Wally to take up the mantle. Keep watching to the very end as well because this Episode gives us a small introduction to this season’s supposed main villain, the Thinker and oh boy does he have one crazy set up going on in his lair. One last thought on this episode though I did think some of the pacing was a little off here and there regarding Barry’s return but besides that I really enjoyed this Season 4 kick off. 

Also can Cisco please suit up as Vibe more often? I'm getting eager to see more Vibe action!

The second episode that aired last Tuesday may be one of my favorite episodes of the Flash to date and features a new Meta human villain Kilg%re. You may recognize this name from D.C. New Earth Flash comics but this new Meta is a little bit different from his comic counterpart besides some similar powers. Kilg%re ends up targeting tech giants currently in Central City but don't worry about Cisco (Although he may be having a little love problem this episode) Kilg%re seems to only be after a select few for reasons unknown.

The Flash aka Barry Allen seems to be taking a new breath in life, with his entire past trauma washed away. This Barry seems more like Season 1 Barry to the point he actually loves being the Flash again. Iris notices the changes too but everything may not be too kocher in the future husband and wife’s relationship. Got to admit I really love this Barry more then what we saw in Season 3 and the end of Season 2 but what seems to set this Barry apart from Season 1 is a huge boost in confidence to all most cocky levels.

When not dealing with a crazy Meta human who can hack into any technology he pleases just by looking at it the team is dealing with a slight change in dynamics with Barry’s return. Kilg%re really made this a thrilling ride of an episode so here's hoping we can see some more Kilg%re action in the future but who knows what the Thinker is planning. This episode throws out a huge question that I can't state without spoiling things that really changes the definition of Metahumans.

Barry Allen is also dealing with his brand new suit which comes equipped with a whole load of tech that Cisco probably shouldn't of put in the suit (For reasons that come into play in this very episode) but he has a sweet pair of visors that come over his eyes when running that allow him to analyze his foes on the go, which is SWEET it adds more depth to The Flash without him just running around all the time, maybe I just like Superheroes with technology... Might be why a certain novel character of mine is that way... Looking at you Aeris.

Overall these first two episodes were a nice return to a more light hearted yet action packed tone which was present in Season 1. Hey Season 1 had it's drama and angst, Reverse Flash made sure of it but the show knew when to have fun which is something I seriously missed in Seasons 2 and 3. This season looks to be a return to that while having a new menacing villain known as the Thinker taking the antagonist lead. Maybe I'm just tired of Doom and Gloom all the time, Gloom is a cool Pokemon though no offense to Gloom lovers... I was actually pretty tired when writing this forgive me.

For those who haven't watched these Episodes yet or want to rewatch them you can watch them for free on the CW TV app which you can project to your TV if you have the right equipment (Or Apple TV) just keep in mind advertisements will play throughout the TV Episode breaks, like a normal TV broadcast. Also you cannot change the quality settings on this app so watch your Data and Wifi limits.

Next week’s episode looks to be just as awesome but perhaps a little unlucky for Team Flash, including a returning Harry Wells from Earth-2. A new meta by the name of Hazard, played by Sugar-Lyn Beard, seems to have powers of luck on her side, bringing bad luck to others while racking in the riches for herself.

Apparently this character was also in the Infinity Inc comic series from the 80s where she used a special dice in conjunction with her powers to control probability itself. It’ll be interesting how they incorporate her into The Flash but this episode looks to be another goldmine like the previous 2 episodes, did they hire new writers or something because Season 4 is killing it so far.

Anyway that episode will be airing October 24^th at 8:00 PM Eastern/7:00 PM Central/5:00 PM Pacific depending on what time zone you live in. I’m not actually sure if the show even airs outside of America and Canada.

Jim Carrey Relives One of His Best Movies

ALRIGHTY THEN I got a new movie trailer for you guys!

So you guys know Jim Carrey right? He’s that guy who wore that green mask in that movie and might have also been a pet detective as well as another green fellow in a Christmas movie. Yeah those are just the three movies I know him from the most but Jim Carrey has been in quite a lot of hit movies that birthed from his stand up comedy career which surprisingly struggled badly at the beginning before Jim refined his act.

Usually he puts on a hyper, sometimes insane character in those movies (Though he utilizes a lot more of his impressions and comedy skills in his actual standup comedy) but in 1999 he got to take on the role as another comedian, his idol Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. I don’t know all too much about Andy nor have I seen Man on the Moon but apparently there’s always been talks about what happened behind the scenes of the movie and that Jim Carrey never broke character even off filming. Footage from the behind the scenes did exist but was never released, until now. “Jim & Andy” is a behind the scenes documentary diving into Jim Carrey and his experience taking on the role of Andy, which apparently he went completely method for. (Which is what Andy himself did for all of his characters) A present day Jim Carrey (Massive beard included) will be looking back at the hours of footage recorded during Man on the Moon. This actually looks like a fun watch but oh boy I’ve heard stories of this footage but was never quite sure how crazy Jim really was behind the scenes, this documentary will actually be releasing on Netflix later this November 17^th.

So that’s Jim Carrey acting and we really haven’t seen him in much lately but that’s probably because another passion in his life has been taking hold, Art. Yeah believe it or not this man is actually one really good artist as I recently discovered via this next video.

Yeah this is definitely a side to him I never knew about. He seemed so calm in the video too it was shocking. Well I mean he’s an actor/comedian so of course this is the real him behind the act but I had no idea he was an artist and a pretty awesome abstract one at that. That flaming heart is actually incredible. He also does figure sculpting which was also unexpected. Amazing what you find when you look past the surface, huh? Art can be a great creative outlet just as much as comedy and acting can so it’s awesome to see Jim finding a passion in art like this, now if he just knitted that would be great I would definitely mark him down as one of my favorite people of all time.

Out with Marshadow in with Silvally!

Before I end the blog for the day I have two updates that kind of coincide with each other. Remember that Marshadow event running at Gamestop? Well if you get to read this before Monday is over then get over to GameStop now before it ends because it ends TODAY! This will be your last chance (For a while) to get Marshadow so hurry up and get him, actually forget that it may actually be over I’m not exactly sure how GameStop ends their events. I warned you guys last week so hopefully you all got him before it ended. Anyway GameStop is immediately starting a brand new event for Pokemon Sun and Moon in the form of a sweet Shiny Silvally! This Arceus like Pokemon even has a Shiny form similar to Arceus it seems as its body is now yellow instead of White (He must be related to the SNES). He comes holding a Gold Bottle Cap (Which I have never used those Bottle Caps yet believe it or not) and the moves Multi-Attack (Silvally’s Signature move which changes depending on which memory disc he’s holding, just like Arceus except Physical not Special) Parting Shot, Punishment and Scary Face. Despite Scary Face which is not a move I usually use this is a pretty sweet moveset. He comes with any nature so soft resetting will work on this guy for you competitive battlers! Apparently this is a tie in event for the new Shiny Silvally GX card… So hopefully you won’t have to buy anything to get him. (Though I wouldn’t mind grabbing a couple packs of Pokemon Cards while I’m there)

This event will run until November the 13^th!

That’s all for today, sorry if it seems lack luster again I’m still trying to reorganize after these hectic four weeks I’ve just been through, the once a week blog will actually work out in the end, actually it already is with the separate sub headers and I’m actually enjoying it again instead of feeling bogged down so expect next week to be interesting! I may have a new pack of Pokemon Cards to unpack and perhaps a viewing of a certain new season of RWBY to discuss and hey when was the last time I discussed a Harry Potter movie? You never know what I’ll talk about next (Even though I practically just gave it away).

This was ZAK Entertainment

SEEEEE… You next week! (Imagine this in a Jim Carrey voice and it makes sense, kind of.)

The Many Murders of Midsomer & The Man Who Invented Christmas

Everyone loves a good murder mystery right? The thrill of the investigation, the suspense and the breathtaking shock you get when you finally realize who the murderer is (sometimes discovering it before the actual characters do) yeah murder mysteries are quite the ride and the genre has stood the test of time since it began to become popular in the early 19th century. (Which actually makes it quite a young genre in book standards)

Ever since the 20th century the Murder Mystery genre has translated itself into the TV Serial and Film industry. Most of it was based on already written books and stories which brings me to today’s blog. Speaking of that as of today i’ll be writing blogs for Monday and Thursday instead of Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is happening because of some external conflicts that have made it so difficult to write three blogs a week to the point Friday’s blog was just a mere update which I'm still mad at myself for. I'm terribly sorry about this but this is going to be a better thing anyway i’ll have more time to flesh out each blog, three days to be exact.

Anyway today I’ll be talking about a TV show that my Mum and Dad started watching years ago and because of that I eventually got into it as well. I'm talking about Midsomer Murders which I have mentioned a few times here and there over the course of the past year.

This TV show began airing on March 23rd, 1997 and stars John Nettles as the shrewd, hardworking yet humble middle aged Chief Detective Inspector Tom Barnaby and Daniel Casey as the ambitious and much younger Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy as they solve crime in the fictional English county of Midsomer. There’s a load of villages and towns featured within this county such as Causton, where Tom and his wife Joyce live and others such as Badgers Drift and a load of towns with Midsomer in the name.

Each Episode follows a similar formula; a murder usually occurs towards the beginning of the Episode followed by Tom Barnaby getting involved with usually a couple of other murders occur before the crime is solved. Besides this formula each episode keeps things fresh with different personalities, plots and hijinks that occur throughout each episode. Unlike some Murder shows Midsomer Murders has a lighthearted touch and knows when to turn down the serious tons and have fun besides the constant murder happening around the ears of the town’s residents. (Actually even some of the murders can be comical at times.) Really it's a wonder how the population stays up with the amount of people who drop like flies in the various towns.

You know out of most Murder Mysteries this show really has some originality to it, or at least some refreshing takes on certain themes. I mean Tom Barnaby is actually a hard working family man who doesn't rush to conclusions (Although he usually figures out the murderer early on he just keeps quiet until all the evidence is gathered) compared to some protagonists who sometimes can be womanizers or Detectives who have been sent down a dark path of life. 

Speaking of family Tom and Joyce have a daughter by the name of Cully who plays a recurring role throughout the John Nettles episodes (I’ll get into that in a second) as she aspires towards a career in theatre and acting. Cully goes through some character development throughout the series which is pretty nice.

This show truly is about character and to fill the many roles comes many and I mean MANY guest appearances by famous theatre stars and on screen stars with some guests even going on to play bigger roles in the future. I could go on and on throughout the rest of the blog discussing the countless guests that show up on this show. To name a few (Mostly my favorite appearances) are Richard Briers, Olivia Colman, Peter Capaldi, Toby Jones, Ian McNeice, Kevin McNally, Robert Hardy, Henry Cavill (Hold on it gets crazier) and Orlando Bloom. 

Yes you read that right, Orlando Bloom. Orlando made a brief appearance in the episode “Judgment Day” as Peter Drinkwater. He was so young in this episode it's crazy to think he would go on to play as Legolas in Lord of the Rings a year later and then Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean shortly afterwards?

John Nettles isn’t such an unfamiliar face either and to my surprise I never realized he also played another detective by the name of Jim Bergerac in “Bergerac” which ran from 1981-1991. Anyone remember that show? Yeah that was John Nettles, apparently, awesome man.

Anyway this show really is the king of guest star appearances and as you watch each episode you’ll probably be pointing out the familiar faces, in more than one episode too because Midsomer Murders tends to reuse actors. You could probably play a game of some sort picking out the actors.

Still talking about actors a lot of changes occur throughout this series regarding the main characters, for one Gavin Troy doesn’t stick around forever and after Season 6 he’s replaced by the more sarcastic and cocky Sergeant Dan Scott (John Hopkins). 

This started a trend that the series tends to follow in which the Sergeant usually gets promoted and moves on leaving Tom with a new Sergeant every couple of seasons. 

After Scott, who doesn’t last for longer than 15 episodes, Jason Hughes steps up to the plate as DS Ben Jones, who’s in direct competition for my favorite Sergeant of the show with Gavin Troy. He’s not as clumsy or a terrible of a driver as Gavin (Thank goodness, I'm pretty sure Gavin put Inspector Barnaby's heart on overdrive on countless occasions) but he has just as much hot headed ambition with his own edge that makes him stand out. Ben Jones is also the longest running Sergeant and actually starts off as a temporary Detective Constable as a replacement for Daniel Scott but after a murder case he’s swiftly transferred and promoted to full Detective Constable. Ben Jones is also a lot less naïve than the previous sergeants and has a keen eye and mind when it comes to cases. (Troy usually comes to the wrong conclusion)

The sergeants aren’t the only characters who change; actually a massive casting change happened during the last few episodes of Season 13 which saw Tom Barnaby retire from crime solving. Yeah it was a pretty crazy change and they could've ended the show right then and there or had Ben Jones take over but apparently Tom Barnaby has a cousin by the name of John Barnaby (Yeah this show has it’s quirks) played by Neil Dudgeon and through a passing of the torch John takes over the role of Chief Inspector and brings his wife Sarah Barnaby (Fiona Dolman) and dog Sykes along for the ride.

Ben Jones hangs around for a little while but soon gets promoted and replaced by DS Charlie Nelson (Gwilym Lee) and then again by DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix) who’s currently in the role as of today.

To be honest I’m not as keen on the Neil Dudgeon era compared to the John Nettles episodes I find John Barnaby a little too snarky and snooty for my liking but the episodes are still good with some thrilling murders, plus Sykes the dog is probably the coolest TV show dog of all time.

Anyway if you’re looking for a thrilling murder mystery that doesn’t bog you down with dark, serious themes and loves to have fun then this show will become addicting, you’ll probably rewatch it countless times. (Or maybe that’s just us.) The show’s still running strong with new Episodes filming as you read this so expect more to air next year on ITV for you British folks and I believe PBS for us over here. However if you want to wait a little while (A long while) you can watch the new series when it eventually makes it to Netflix. Good thing about that is the ENTIRE previous seasons are on Netflix for you to binge watch. To me it’s really one of the best murder mystery shows out there and it also has a shocking origin that stretches back to years before the show began airing.

I did not know about this until recently but Tom Barnaby, Gavin Troy and the county of Causton actually originate from a BOOK SERIES. This blew my mind when I recently discovered this but apparently these characters were originally imagined by Caroline Graham for the book “The Killings at Badger’s Drift” which was adapted for the first episode of the TV series. Caroline Graham wrote 6 other books featuring Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy with the latest releasing in 2004. I had absolutely no idea that the origins of this show were from a book series and I kind of want to read these books but they seem quite hard to get over here in America. Caroline Graham herself actually adapted one of her books to a screenplay for the Episode “Death of a Hollow Man” and it seems all 7 of her books have been adapted into episodes at this point.

The book series is actually available on Amazon to my delight so you can check that out below.

Oh yeah while this show does have a thrilling soundtrack to compliment the murder scenes you'll notice the main theme song is played constantly throughout the show in various forms. (Even an orchestre ends up playing it during one of the episodes, which is hilarious) Another recurring sound is the sound of local Peacocks that pipe up during various episodes. That must've been a huge pain to film through I never knew how loud those birds can be. To my knowledge the show was filmed around Oxfordshire so those Peacocks are quite common there. (Correct me if I'm wrong I've never actually been to Oxford.)

I could keep on about this show all day, it’s one of my favorites but I don’t want to keep you all forever so I’ll end it there. Be sure to check out the official Midsomer Murders Facebook Page! They throw up some awesome trivia as well as some behind the scenes stuff and fan art so check them out here: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMidsomer/ Anyway I have one more motion picture to discuss, one that’s coming out for this Holiday season.

Everyone knows “A Christmas Carol” right? This Charles Dickens classic has been adapted countless times into so many different versions, some even featuring characters such as Mickey Mouse and The Muppets. It’s an absolute must read and watch during the Christmas holiday and really expresses the true spirit of Christmas. (We’re getting close to Christmas so expect a Jollier ZAK Entertainment)

As a writer myself I’ve always expressed an almost passionate interest in Charles Dickens’s work and more so how he came up with all those lovable characters. Well this Christmas season a movie will be releasing in theatres, a period drama movie based on the magical process of creating “A Christmas Carol” and the struggles Charles Dickens went through to create a successful story after previous failures.

The movie will be dubbed “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and star Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens. The characters of A Christmas Carol will come to life, at least to Charles’s eyes (I’m sort of relieved to think I’m not the only one who imagines his characters coming to life, I’m either not insane or a majority in insanity) as the movie goes through this point in his life and career.

Christopher Plummer will play Ebenezer Scrooge. I’m actually really happy about this casting, I never thought he would ever play the part but here we are.

Donald Sumpter will play Jacob Marley

Morfydd Clark will play Kate Dickens, Charles’s Wife.

Justin Edwards will play John Foster, a good friend of Charles Dickens and a English Biographer.

Professor Sprout… I mean Miriam Margolyes will play Mrs. Fisk

And Jonathan Pryce will play John Dickens, Charles’s father.

This cast is full of some awesome familiar faces and this movie looks like absolute magic. It’s not just some biography film or documentary this is looking to be just as much of a Christmas classic as the actual Christmas Carol story. This isn’t a big box production movie (Which probably means this will be so much better, big box productions seem to be lacking the movie magic lately) but it looks like an incredible movie you’ll be able to check out in theatres November 3^rd of this year and you can check out the trailer below.

So before I head out I have a traditional segment to kick off beforehand, the FREE Knitting Pattern feature! While we’re all on about Christmas why not get ready for Christmas with some winter themed knitting patterns? Today’s pattern is a very familiar pattern to me and possibly you guys if you’ve been sticking around the blog this past year. This is the “Basic Norwegian Star Hat” pattern by Cara Jo Miller!

Yeah remember this pattern? I never included it in a knitting pattern feature because I wasn’t doing these segments at the time. This pattern was featured by another means, by the means of me actually knitting it.

This was my very first beanie I ever knitted and it came out way larger than it should of done, but that was due to my gauge being off and using stretchy acrylic yarn.

You’ll need some worsted weight yarn in colors of choice, US 6 – 4.0 MM circular needles/possible DPNs for the top of the beanie and a darning needle for finishing it off.

This is a really awesome and beautiful beanie pattern and I really enjoyed knitting this as my first colorworks pattern despite how large it came out.

Here’s my beanie and Mum’s beanie that we both knitted using this pattern at the same time. You can use just about any colors on this hat.

If you are using Acrylic yarn like I did I would recommend using smaller needles, perhaps a US 5 or even a 4 as the Caron Simply Soft Solids yarn I used may stretch the size out a bit.

Anyway you can check out this awesome pattern here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/basic-norwegian-star-hat

Also why not check out the recap blog I wrote after finishing the blog here: https://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2016/11/completing-my-first-knitted-colorworks.html.

For now I’m heading out, hope you all enjoy the slightly new schedule format. I didn’t mean to spring this on you all during the 1 year anniversary but external commitments were making it not so enjoyable to write three blogs a week and truth is I was getting really bogged down before life happened. I feel like I can put more effort into two blogs a week rather than three.

Maybe I should just stop second guessing everything I write, it wouldn’t take me forever to write then.

This was ZAK Entertainment

See you on Thursday! (I almost typed Wednesday, this will take some getting used to.)

[Photo and Video Credits: All3Media, ITV, PBS, IMDB, Bleecker Street, Cara Jo Miller and ZAK Entertainment]

Reviewing Marvel's Defenders and Two Old Pals Return to the Pokemon Anime

You have to admit Marvel seems to be king of Superheroes in live action. While DC has had some good Batman movies and I still love the Flash they seem to be struggling to create a universe that lives up to the legacy set by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU isn’t just movies either it has expanded into TV shows and more recently Netflix. Netflix has given some minds at Marvel the chance to build another universe within the MCU starting with Daredevil, starring Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock a blind lawyer who dons a mask during the night due to his enhanced other senses allowing him to kick butt as the Daredevil and basically see without really seeing.

Daredevil released its full first season on Netflix on April 10^th, 2015. Following Daredevil was Jessica Jones, starring Krysten Ritter as a former superhero turned detective with a bad case of PSTD as a bad memory returns from the past in the form of Kilgrave, played by the awesome David Tennant, this show as released on November 20^th in 2015. Another season of Daredevil was released in March 2016 followed by Luke Cage, starring Mike Colter as a former convict turn crime fighter when he is given superhuman strength and unbreakable skin, this show was released on September 30, 2016. Iron Fist was the last series to release earlier on this year (March 17^th) starring Finn Jones as Iron Fist a billionaire Buddhist monk and martial artist who gains powerful chi and is gifted with the mighty iron first power. For some reason out of all the previous shows which were critically acclaimed Iron Fist received mostly unfavorable reviews.

Finally all of these shows have come together in the miniseries Marvel’s Defenders continuing the plot from Iron Fist with some elements from the other four shows (Mostly Daredevil) coming into play. I actually have to admit I have not seen, for the most part, the other four shows as of watching this show which was probably not smart on my part but for some reason I just never got around to watching the shows, especially after I wasn’t too fond of the first Daredevil season so my expectations weren’t very high.

Marvel’s Defenders takes place after the events of the previous 4 shows and continues the evil antics of “The Hand” as they continue to seek everlasting life, their search takes them to New York City, home of Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. 

From Alien Hunter to Almost Immortal Villain

The Hand is made up of 5 leaders (5 Fingers) who are Alexandra played by Sigourney Weaver (Alien), the brilliant mastermind in charge though has some vulnerabilities that are poked at throughout the series.  

Madame Gao, played by Wai Ching Ho who made appearances in Daredevil and Iron Fist. She makes her return in Defenders as one of the 5 fingers and seemingly the voice of reason.

Sowande played by Babs Olusanmokun, the head of the cleanup crew seemingly for The Hand. Sowande is the influence Luke Cage needs to get involved in the resistance against the Hand.

Ramon Rodriguez as Bakuto a former sensei of Colleen Wing who fights with the Defenders.

Finally Murakami played by Yutaka Takeuchi, not much is revealed about him throughout the series but he seems to be the most bloodthirsty one of the lot, especially in his introduction scene which is unnecessarily gory in a way I’m not sure adds anything to the plot.

Joining the hand is Elodie Yung as The Black Sky, an amnesiac resurrected Elektra Natchios after her defeat in Daredevil, which is actually spoilers and I should of watched the first two seasons of Daredevil before this as well as possibly Iron Fist.

Marvel’s Defenders actually starts off a bit slow with a confusing premise of a first Episode but come Episode 3 the plot of the miniseries started to become clear which made watching a little more enjoyable for me. I feel events really begin to pick up with the introduction of Stick played by Scott Glenn (Famous for Urban Cowboy) who is the man who trained Daredevil and a blind warrior himself, also he pretty much kicks ass in most of the shots he’s in, or heads at least. 

Stick appeared in both Daredevil seasons as a premise to Daredevil’s training so it was cool to see him make a return in Defenders. Despite this I’m not sure how I felt about the ending I feel like the plot twist towards the end Episodes kind of fell flat on its face with the ending feeling almost rushed in a way.

The relationships between the four Defenders as they come from vastly different lives to a rocky start of a team is actually one of the great parts of this series and brings a much more down to earth and realistic relationship in comparison to the Superhero team ups of the CW Arrowverse, Legends of Tomorrow included. (Not saying I don’t love those shows.) Luke Cage and Iron Fist’s relationship is probably the strongest in the series and my personal favorite. The team has some bickering among themselves as do all teams when they first gather together but everything as I said feels realistic and down to earth despite all the supernatural occurrences.

The soundtrack for this series was good, some of the soundtrack like the Defenders opening theme were outstanding but some of the other choices of music felt out of place in a way. The sound effects however I found to be subpar to an almost atrociousness, the impact sounds, the punches and the kicks sounded so fake and out of sync with the rest of the show, they could of possibly lowered the sound just a little but even then the actual effects sounded like someone was just dropping a book on a table. Even worse the explosion sound effect in the final episode was broken and just a plain mess compared to how an explosion of that kind would actually sound, or at least sounds in better movies.

Overall I believe if you’ve watched the previous four shows that Marvel’s Defenders is worth a watch but it wasn’t too bad coming into the show with no previous knowledge; past events were explained as the series progressed. It’s flawed I can’t deny it and I felt as if Luke Cage was kind of shafted to the status of a Side Character instead of truly feeling apart of the central characters, which is a shame because Luke Cage was probably my favorite character out of the whole series. Marvel’s Defenders felt like a wrap up to Daredevil and Iron Fist while giving them open doors to new chapters as well as a new future for Jessica Jones, who while wasn’t involved in the plot really shone brightly in this series as my second favorite character next to Luke Cage. Krysten Ritter really pulled off that snarky, sarcastic yet good hearted badass female hero to a key and I’m interested in diving into her own show because of the awesome character that she is. There are also two side characters that shined to me as well such as Simone Missick as Misty Knight a badass police detective from Harlem who seems to be building up to be a major character in Luke Cage season 2 and Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing a former member of the Hand first featured in Iron Fist and is a katana swinging badass lover of Iron Fist himself. Anyway this series as well as the previous four shows are all available to watch Via Netflix so go give them a watch! (There's a Stan Lee cameo but it knocked me on my butt laughing when I spotted it.)

You can sign up for Netflix at http://netflix.com.

Also before I move on Wonder Woman is now on iTunes! You can check that out by clicking the link below.

Moving on I got some major news for Pokemon fans and fans of the original first few seasons of the Pokemon Anime! Two lovable and memorable characters that were major parts of my childhood are making their return after years of being absence in upcoming Pokemon Sun and Moon Episodes! The kick butt, water loving, psyduck owner and tomboy Misty and the ladies man Brock are both returning for two Episodes of the Sun and Moon anime this September 14^th and 21^st! (In Japan, not sure when it’s releasing outside of Japan dubbed yet) The announcement came in the newest issue of the Telubi-Kun magazine in Japan.

For those not aware Brock and Misty were Ash’s traveling companions throughout his Kanto and Johto adventures, with Brock continuing to travel with Ash through to the end of his Sinnoh Journey. Both Misty had returned to take over the Cerulean City Gym full time and Brock had left to become a Pokemon Doctor. While I can’t say I dislike any of Ash’s traveling companions and I’ve been an avid watcher of the show throughout the past 20 years Brock and Misty are by far my favorites and I mean these guys were the original crew that I grew up watching in over 5 movies and many Episodes so it’s tp be expected.

I can’t express how ecstatic I was to hear this news. Apparently Ash, who’s now attending Pokemon School (Which he accidentally got signed up for) in between his Alolan Island Challenge is returning home to Kanto for a special class. He meets up with his old pals and it seems they stick around for some adventures but here’s the awesome part… Brock and Misty both have Mega Pokemon now. Oh boy yes these two have been busy improving as Gym Leaders (Actually I’m not sure if Brock will be a gym leader in this I assumed he was still a Doctor.) as both Misty’s Gyradose which she caught after leaving Ash in Johto and Brock’s Steelix (Which evolved from his trusty Onix from the first few seasons) are both mega evolvable. Ash will actually be battling both of these guys! Yeah Ash here’s your chance to actually earn those Gym Badges you were graciously given.

These two Episodes are enough to make up for my disappointment regarding the upcoming new Pokemon movie Pokemon 20: I Choose You so I can’t wait to see the original crew back together at least for two Episodes. Now all we need is for Team Rocket to follow Ash back to Kanto (Which they will) and for Gary to come back and it’ll be perfect, oh and Charizard you can’t forget him. I actually feel like a little kid again, excuse me.

Now I may be pulling off a crazy and mad theory but does this also hint towards a possible presence of these two in the games? Giving them Mega Stones makes me suspicious and maybe a little too hopeful for a Pokemon World Tournament to return in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

I thought I would add that I’ve actually really come to love the new art style in Sun and Moon (Even though Ash has noodle arms.) it’s so much more fluid than previous seasons and adds a more cheerful mood to the more comedic season that Sun and Moon is and really I feel it’s proven to be great so far despite being different.

Speaking of something related to Nintendo… Remember back in 2015 Nintendo held the World Championships? (Arin from Game Grumps was there, if that rings a bell) Which was a revival of something they did way back in 1990? Well get ready because the Nintendo World Championships is returning once again this year! (I would have announced this sooner but I had no idea it was happening.) 

https://nwc.nintendo.com/

You can be a part of this competition by taking part in the qualifying rounds which are happening exclusively at Best Buys around the world… Okay it’s only in the country apparently and only in New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Dallas, Seattle and Miami but if you can reach these areas click this link here for more info: https://nwc.nintendo.com/! The big event will be happening in New York City October 7^th, 2017. Apparently the qualifiers are using Mario Kart 7, which is pretty awesome to see the 3DS Mario Kart get some love again.

On a more negative note (Is there too much negativity in this blog today?) it appears come November 7^th the Miiverse will shut down on both 3DS and Wii U. Miiverse was a pretty cool social network for Nintendo players to share thoughts and artwork on and this removal is also negatively impacting some major games in a way that is completely ridiculous on Nintendo’s part. First up is Mario Kart 8 which will disable the ability to upload videos to Youtube (Have you guys seen the new Youtube logo? It’s pretty modern and snazzy.) which seems unrelated to the removal of Miiverse. Tournaments are also no more in Mario Kart 8.

Splatoon will no longer feature messages and drawings among Inkopolis but you still have the miiverse like feature in Splatoon 2 thank goodness.

Super Mario 3D World while subtle and not affective of the gameplay will no longer has messages from Miis from the Miiverse floating around the hub worlds.

Super Mario Maker is losing a pretty vital feature for sharing levels with others. No longer will you be able to share levels to Miiverse and comment on levels. You can still upload levels but this is a huge bummer for those looking for feedback on their levels.

Super Smash Bros for Wii U will now have an entire stage completely useless and broken, the Miiverse stage. No longer will those hilarious and sometimes stupid messages pop up in the background from Miiverse. The Tournament feature will also be removed, which I never managed to ever get into a tournament that was active so I’m neutral on that.

Xenoblade Chronicles X’s BLADE report feature is gone, but I’m not sure what that is as I’ve never played that game.

Finally Mario VS Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars is basically useless now. You will no longer be able to play other’s levels or upload your levels. You can still complete the 88 levels in the main game but that’s basically it.

I won’t rant on any longer but I have to say this is a bad move on Nintendo’s part; it wouldn’t have been so bad if features in the actual games weren’t breaking because of this. You can read more at: http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27329/~/miiverse-service-discontinuation-faq. Oh yeah and the Wii U home menu is basically going to be a wasteland now, thanks Nintendo. Next time try to make features in your games implemented in ways that won’t break when you shut down certain services. I’m hoping the servers for Wii U and 3DS online games won’t be shut down any time soon unlike the Wii and DS.

Let’s talk about something more positive, pasta! Yes remember that delicious looking Pasta and Salmon meal I had a week ago? Well Mum took that same formula and reworked it, this time with some Spinach Fettuccini instead of Linguine and instead of Salmon some delicious Pork Scaloppini with mixed cheese. 

We got ourselves some Romano cheese and oh my lord it has added a new depth of flavor to our meals besides the parmesan we usually use. You really should try this meal out, you can read the basic ingredients and how it’s all cooked on the end of this blog, it’s the same just we added more butter this time round and different pasta: https://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/08/solar-eclipse-movie-news-pasta-knitting.html.

For today's free knitting pattern feature I'm going to be sharing something real quick but it's an awesome pattern regardless. This is the "Knotted Cables Washcloth" by KnitPicks.

This looks pretty cool actually especially for someone like myself who seems to love cable knitting. I'm not sure how difficult it will be but it looks like a fun challenge regardless of how hard it is, a pattern worth knitting indeed. Looks almost like some sort of fancy architect in a way, knitting architect.

You're going to need US 7 (4.5 MM) needles and some worsted weight yarn of about 100 yards to complete this pattern which you can check out here: http://www.knitpicks.com/cfPatterns/Pattern_Display.cfm?ID=55932220&media=FBK&utm_source=media&utm_medium=marketing&utm_campaign=FBK

(For those read this blog before it got updated, sorry about not including a knitting pattern at first.)

I’m going to leave you guys for the day, hope you enjoyed the read! Don’t forget to check out the new ZAK Entertainment Redbubble where I have some ZAK Entertainment merchandise as well as an awesome 1957 Chevy illustration I did available to purchase on apparel and other merchandise, you can check that out here: redbubble.com/people/zakentertains. Also don’t forget to support me on Patreon so I can keep ZAK Entertainment going. For now however…

This was ZAK Entertainment!

See you on Friday!

Today was a busy day, not going to lie.

[Photo Credits: Marvel, Netflix, ABC, Serebii.net, Telubi-Kun Magazine, Nintendo, ZAK Entertainment, Knit Picks]