5 Reasons The Original ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Still Holds Up

I love the Ninja Turtles.  As a male child born in the early 80’s, the TMNT  holds a special place in my heart, but I won’t be going to see the new movie. I’ve decided this because I don’t get paid to watch movies, so why should I waste my hard earned dollar on something that by all accounts of people I trust is a shitty movie that craps on a childhood love of mine?

I’ll keep my time and money and put it to things that are worth my time, thank you very much.

If there is one upside to this supposed train wreck of a film is that it has the world talking Turtles again and that gives me a chance to talk about a film worthy of my attention, the 1990 cult classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! With five movies for the TMNT (6 depending if you count the 2009 TV movie Turtles Forever) the original remains the definitive Turtle film.

What has made the first film stand the test of time? Let’s take a look and find out!

 

5. The Outstanding Puppetry and Practical Effects

Jim_Henson_and_Ninja_Turtles_1990 If you you are into creature creation and practical effects, this film is a must watch. The legendary Jim Henson Company brought the Turtles to life for this movie and almost 25 years later, the effects still hold up.  They even went the extra mile to make sure each Turtle feels unique beyond mere differences in mask color and weapon. Splinter also is quite a delight to watch, you feel his age and how tired he is with every movement. In an era of CG everything there is something magic about seeing actors being able to physically interact with a practical effect.

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4. The Cheesy, but Effective Soundtrack

While I’m in no hurry to run out and buy the soundtrack, I’d be lying if I said I couldn’t pick out every track from it. The range of music is really impressive, running from very light romps to some tunes that pack a real dark edge to them. The movie, to its credit, makes the most of every piece. The few original songs for the movie like the above T.U.R.T.L.E. Power are so delightfully overdone and goofy that you can’t help but be entertained by them. The music is definitely dated, but it is that odd kind of dated that is still somehow charming.

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3. The Fight Scenes

maxresdefault While limited in what they realistically could pull off in the suits, the Turtles still manage to kick all kinds of ass. The movie is actually fairly clever in that it sets some of its fights in carefully constructed spaces, spaces that accentuated the kinds of combat the Turtles could perform. They do keep the action and violence on the lighter side of things (save the rather dark twist for the final fate of the Shredder), but the combat never poorly done or boring. Bring on the bad guys because these turtles are ready to fight!

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2. The Retention of Some of the Comic’s More Mature Themes

teenageturtles5348 There is is real hurt and pain in this movie. The Turtles aren’t a team, they’re family, and family is complicated enough when you don’t have an evil army after you that has kidnapped your father and almost succeeded in murdering one of your siblings. What I’m getting at here is that this movie has an emotional depth that many people miss because it is a movie about giant talking turtles. Almost every character in the film grapples with doubt, pain, and loss. The movie never loses its sense of fun, but it isn’t afraid to be dark at points and respects its audience enough to trust that they can handle it, which always gives a project bonus points from me.

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1. The Film Had Heart and Something to Say 

vlcsnap2013100816h54m15s124 This is a film about family. Who is your family, what is family, and the special relationship between fathers and sons. It supports the idea that the choices you make and the people you choose to be in your life matter. This movie is better than it has any right to be. As flawed as it is, you can tell that the people behind it cared and were trying to create something more than a simple cash grab. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not claiming this is some amazingly misunderstood masterpiece. It’s a damn popcorn movie, but it is a damn fun popcorn movie and worth a watch or re-watch the next time you have a chance

 

Share your own thoughts on this movie or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in general in the comments below.
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Highly Suspect Reviews: ‘What If’

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Let’s engage in a round of hypotheticals shall we?


What if a boy met a girl who already had a boyfriend? Could they still just be friends despite his feelings for her?


What if she found out about those feelings?


What if that boy was The Boy Who Lived and she was merely a muggle pixie dream girl?


What if a rom-com wasn’t complete garbage?


These are just the sort of questions explored and debated by the Unusual Suspects in this audio review of What If, starring Harry Potter and Ruby Sparks. Or, you know, whatever their actual actor-y names are. Chris, Brian, and J.C. give their thoughts and appraisals as they venture across the barren wasteland known as The Friend Zone.


What If…you downloaded, listened, and then told all your friends to do the same?

 

Geeks@College Episode 103: Catching Up with Korra

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Taylor, Chris and Kaycee are back and they’re discussing the latest season (so far) of Nick’s animated show, The Legend of Korra, Nickelodeon’s treatment of the show, as well as a discussion on recent cable animation. Enjoy!

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Ash & Fern: Next On Your YA To-Read List…

The Giver Series…Check
Hunger Games Series…Check
Divergent Series…Check
Dustlands Series…wait, what?

 

 

 

 

In the world of young adult dystopian literature, there have been many options emerging lately for readers of all ages and levels to enjoy, especially those with strong female characters at the helm. For those of you who are feeling like a piece of you is missing until Mockingjay’s cinematic release in November, I’ve got a way for you to fill your time for the next few months.

Moira Young’s Dustlands Series starts in Blood Red Road by introducing Saba, the introverted main character who identifies with no one save her twin brother, Lugh. When Lugh gets stolen away by a group of Tonton riders on day, Saba is shoved into new roles and new places as she tries to save him.  Of course, along the way, other characters are brought along to help, hinder, and even love her. It’s in those side characters that the true power of this story lies. Each side character gets just as much development over the series as Saba herself, which strengthens the story as it goes. You don’t just feel for Saba; In fact, sometimes you find yourself completely frustrated with her and her decisions. You end up identifying with different characters throughout, which I didn’t necessarily find true in some of the other popular series in this genre such as Divergent.

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As with the Hunger Games and Divergent, the second book, Rebel Heart, and the third, Raging Star, find the story developing out of a personal story into a rebel movement against the powers that be.While the formula being followed throughout the series isn’t necessarily creative, Young gets credit for keeping the story fresh throughout the entire series up until the very last page. While Mockingjay rushed through the revolution, not giving it the attention to detail it deserved, and Allegiant seemed to lag in the relationship woes of Tris and Four until the final chapters that left many dissatisfied and even slightly angry, Raging Star was still providing page-turning suspense throughout and finished with an ending that is sure to satisfy most fans. There are still heartbreaks and moments along the way that you’ll wish went another way, but each event has its place in the story and serves to be a catalyst for another event, not just a point where the author needed some emotion.

The movie rights to the Dustlands series have been picked up and all we know so far is that Ridley Scott is working on getting the film adaptation going.  Depending on the rest of the cast and crew that gets on board, I think that this could be a great cinematic adventure as well. The story provides enough action, romance, and drama to fill theaters in the same way as the others. I’m just hoping that enough people start picking up the books to put some momentum behind it.

 

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World of UScast: Episode 10: The Hunting Trip

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Scheduling conflicts and an unexpected hunting trip for Sarah have forced Toshi to fly solo, seeking the aid of his good friend Jeff for a downbeat conversation about life in Japan. Jeff, who has lived in Japan for 17 years has lots to share of his experiences, so listen well, those of you who would seek to move to the Land of the Rising Sun.
Fortunately, Sarah was able to make it back from her adventures for the last third of the podcast, so fear not, Sarah fans.

Note: In this episode there are mild spoilers for Frozen (of all things) and Supernatural references throughout.

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Somebody Likes It Ep 5 – NWA: “Straight Outta Compton”

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Hey everybody, check this shit out! We’re back! We haven’t gotten fired yet, and I don’t know about you guys, but as far as I’m concerned, that is NOT a familiar feeling. Thanks Chris and Brian! Finally somebody has faith in my crazy ideas! (I’m looking at you Mom).

This week we take on the truly groundbreaking 1988 classic, “Straight Outta Compton”. I was tempted to write this in some clever fashion, with lots of puns and references to how white we are, but as funny and subversive that kind of humor is, I guess I’m just feeling a little blasé this week. I do want to comment on how hilariously silly the lyrics to this album are, and how much things have changed in the intervening 25 years since Straight Outta Compton was released. What seemed scary and “other” has been so co-opted, that now even the unintentionally hilarious is just as funny as the intentional. In fact, sometimes it’s hard for me to discern between the two.

When we were recording I kept trying to remind myself to tell a story but I eventually forgot. I suppose I should share it with you here. At some point in the show I give a character profile of a guy I went to high school with named Judd. There are only 2 things I really remember about Judd. 1. At parties, he would only drink Gatorade mixed with Peppermint Schnapps. 2. He pretty much only listened to NWA. OH! And 3. He drove a kick ass HUGE 70’s van, (yes, he had a moustache). It was the first car I had ever ridden in that had neither a working speedometer nor gas gauge; made for lots of adventures, but those are for another day. When that van finally died, he bought an identical one. That was just his identity by that point, you know? When I was in 10th grade Judd and I went to Padre Island for Spring Break with a group of friends. One afternoon, we were cruising THE VAN up and down the main strip, and every time we passed a group of comely lasses (which was often), Judd would lean out of the window and coo at them “Wasssup LADIES! Wanna party?!”…upon the immediate and inevitable rejection he would invariably mutter “vicious bitches”. This went on for hours, and he never once altered this initial pitch, nor his reaction to the letdown…It was sort of like watching a gif of a dog chasing, then catching, a skunk.

Next week—We’re gonna continue our move out of the 70’s and 80’s and talk about something a hell of a lot more recent: Father John Misty and the 2012 record “Fear Fun”. Lot’s of songs about drinking and drugging. WOO HOOOOO!!!

–Shane

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Five and Out 067: Robin Williams’ Moments

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Wes and Steve discuss Guardians of the Galaxy, mattress surfing, and celebrate Robin Williams’ career during their Top 5 best Robin Williams’ Moments! Enjoy!

What are your favorite Robin Williams’ Moments? Let us know! E-mail us at fiveplaynet@gmail.com!

 

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The Hobbit and the Desolation of Bilbo Baggins

With the release of the first trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the final film in The Hobbit Trilogy, one question has been asked repeatedly by viewers, critics and J.R.R Tolkien fanatics alike: Where is Bilbo Baggins? In a film series that features the word “Hobbit,” you’d think the actual Hobbit might be featured in the film most of the time.

 

 

Just so you know, he’s around three-feet tall, likes to wear yellow and green, and is desperately in need of his misplaced handkerchief. You might have spotted him occasionally in Peter Jackson’s newest trilogy of films based off of a book that’s only 300-pages long. Just to put everything in perspective, Battle of the Five Armies will cover the last 58 pages of the book. You can make a three hour movie out of 58 pages, right? Right?

 

Looking at the most recent trailer for the final act of the film series, it’s obvious at this point that Bilbo has been relegated to a second player of sorts. He’s only spotted a handful of times in the trailer and is given a brief voice-over narration. Despite what one might think, the distinct lack of Bilbo isn’t a new phenomena. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was heavily criticized for its lack of focus on the title character and its desire to cover things that weren’t even featured in the book.

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Yes, you had the more iconic scenes from Tolkien’s original work. Bilbo’s battle with the spiders and his conversation with the seemingly all-powerful dragon, Smaug, were present, but how many hours were in between those two scenes? The film follows Gandalf as he goes to investigate the Necromancer, Thorin as he’s slowly overcome by his own desires and greed, Bard the Bowman, and Legolas’ love-life. All of the plots and sub-plots aren’t necessary to tell a story about a single person. This is Bilbo’s story, not the story of Evangeline Lily trying to get with a dwarf.

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The reason why Jackson’s adaptations of The Lord of the Rings worked so well was because he knew he had to cut scenes and characters from the original source material. It was necessary in order to tell a more streamlined story. I don’t think anyone was crying over the loss of Tom Bombadil and his yellow boots. I certainly wasn’t.

With The Hobbit, Jackson is doing the complete opposite. Not only did he turn a relatively short book into three movies, but he purposely added things to pad out the running time. The length of The Hobbit films can be felt, unlike the previous running-time of The Lord of the Rings. By adding all these extra things like Gandalf’s investigation of the return of Sauron, and Thorin’s rivalry with the CGI orc, Azog, Bilbo’s role becomes smaller and smaller.

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In Jackson’s efforts to forcefully connect The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, he’s alienated the central character from the original novel. The Hobbit is Bilbo’s story from start to finish. It’s not about Thorin, Gandalf, Bard, or Legolas. The novel is about a person finding the bravery and selflessness that they didn’t know was inside them all along. Bilbo is learning to overcome his fear to become something much more, but Jackson and company are so busy trying to connect everything from the previous trilogy to these films that the point of Bilbo’s story is completely lost in the film adaptation.

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Maybe I’m being too harsh. This last film might finally be able to give Bilbo his due, but with a three hour running time, forgive me for being skeptical.

What about you reader? What’s your opinion of Jackson’s adaptations of The Hobbit? Is Bilbo being neglected? Let us know in the comments below.
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Robin Williams: A Man Who Lived Extraordinary Lives

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” – Robin Williams

I think it was a shock for everyone to learn yesterday that Robin Williams, the beloved comedian and Academy-Award winning actor, passed away at the age of 63.

The circumstances of his death have still not been completely revealed by his publicist and family, but I’m not writing this article to not talk about his death, and what may have caused it. I’m here to celebrate an American icon that provided audiences with dozens of jaw dropping performances in a career that spanned decades.

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As many know, Williams first gained prominence in Mork and Mindy (1978). The show spent more time writing the lines for the other actors than Williams. An expert at stand-up and improv, Williams would never do the same thing twice while on set, and would offer a different line or take on scene after every single cut.

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Even after Mork and Mindy’s cancellation in 1982, Williams’ career wasn’t slowing down. In 1987, the actor would receive not only praise from audiences, but critics as well for his performance in Good Morning Vietnam. His role as a wartime journalist frustrated by the censorship of the time gave Williams yet another chance to show off his abilities as a master of improvisational comedy. Much like in Mork and Mindy, Williams requested to do multiple takes on scenes, especially when filming the fictional broadcasts.

Williams would continue to earn critical acclaim for his work in films like Dead Poets Society (1989), where he plays an eccentric poetry professor, and Aladdin (1992), in which he lends his voice to the breakout character of the film, Genie.

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Aladdin is a personal favorite of mine since I was a child of the 1990s. As any parent knows, kids love to re-watch movies over and over again. Aladdin was one of those films for me. I must have watched that movie at least once a week every Friday. Williams’ vocal work as Genie probably contributed to the films infinite re-watchability.

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Even with all of these numerous successes and critical recognition, nothing could prepare audiences for one of Williams’ most beloved roles of all time, Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). Mrs. Doubtfire is not only considered a classic, but one of the greatest family-films of all time. The story of a recently divorced father trying to spend time with his children is both hilarious and poignant. Disguising himself as a Scottish nanny named Mrs. Doubtfire, Williams’ cross dressing Daniel Hillard made great efforts to be with his children. As creepy as the premise may sound, the film is nothing short of endearing and heartfelt.

Yes, Williams typically liked to star in comedies and family films, but his choice to do more dramatic work truly showcased his dedication to deliver a complicated and flawed character to filmgoers.

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With films like Awakenings (1990), Insomnia (2000) and One Hour Photo (2001), Williams was allowed to show his range as a performer and give audiences a chance to see him in a new light. Gone were the more wild antics commonly seen in many of his comedic characters. In the place of his comedic style was an often soft spoken and thoughtful person, who had a desire to connect with those around them. This was shown in spades in his supporting role in Good Will Hunting (1997). While not the leading man, Williams still delivered the powerhouse performance of the movie. Playing a grieving psychiatrist mourning the death of his wife, Williams’ Dr. Sean Maguire worked tirelessly to help a troubled youth played by Matt Damon. His role in the film is still looked at as one of the actor’s best.

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Like so many people who watched him, I was moved by Robin Williams’ characters. He was able to capture so much emotion in the roles he inhabited. He could make you laugh, cry and stop and think about what was truly important in your life. It’s these three things that I hope people remember about him. His dedication to entertain people will not be forgotten, and he will live on forever in the minds of those that watched him work his craft.

What about you reader? What’s your favorite Robin Williams movie? Let us know in the comments below.

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