Saint Maker – About 6 Hours too Long…

I Really Wished I Liked This

Before diving into the review, I want to be upfront and say that the publisher sent me a review copy of their game, Saint Maker, so I didn’t pay for this one. You’ll also see that this had no bearing on the actual outcome of the review because I… well, I don’t recommend it sadly. If for some reason you do want to get the game, you can do so over on Steam for $13.99 USD. With that said, let’s jump right into our look at Saint Maker, a horror visual novel by Yangyang mobile.

Cocaine Bear – Film Review

Any movie with a title like Cocaine Bear is expected to be insane. What is insane is the story that inspired Elizabeth Banks’ horror-comedy. In September of 1985, a drug smuggler named Andrew C. Thornton III dropped a load of cocaine from a plane into the wilderness, as a way to lighten the load of the plane he was in, and ended up flying out, only for his parachute to fail, causing his death. What happened next was stranger than fiction, as four months later, a 175-lb black bear was found dead in the wilderness with its insides discovered to have been filled with the cocaine that fell from the plane. The bear ended up stuffed and dubbed “Cocaine Bear” or “Pablo Eskobear”, named cleverly after notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. Someone must have thought that this story would have made for a good movie idea, only instead of the bear up-and-dying, it became a monster on a coked-up rampage in a horror movie. Of course, a straight horror idea would not be taken this seriously, so why not make it a comedy, and have Elizabeth Banks direct it?

A Look Back on Oliver & Company – Oliver Twist, but with Strays

My introduction to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist was Disney’s Oliver & Company, though I was unaware of the source at the time. I saw it as a fun little musical about a cat and some dogs (with one being voiced by none other than Billy Joel). Yet as I got older, I noticed that it was a much darker story than I was led to believe. Underneath its jazzy musical numbers, singing dogs, and New York atmosphere lied a story of crime and survival. The story of Oliver Twist was never really lighthearted to begin with, yet the slums of London are replaced with the streets of New York City as people hustle about getting from one place to the next, while the lowest live in the slums. Also, put in a mafia boss setting a race against time, and you have a recipe for what may be Disney’s grittiest film in animation history.

Fate/stay night Movie: Heaven’s Feel (1-3) Route 2 – The Best Mainline Fate Since Zero

Sakura DID Something!!!!

Here we are at the end of the mainline Fate reviews. I thought about breaking each film out into its own review, but let’s be realistic, you aren’t going to watch just one of these randomly as that would make no sense. Instead, we are talking about the Heaven’s Feel films as a set. By the title, I hope you could guess that these are well worth watching. If all you wanted was a quick recommendation, well there you go! For those of you who want a little bit more though (and if you have read my Fate retrospective up until now, let’s not kid ourselves, you do), join me as we talk about why I enjoyed these films.

Jacob’s Top 10 Movies of 2022

It’s that time of year again where I talk about the best films the previous year had to offer, and 2022 had plenty of good films, ranging from multiverses to fine dining, and even a murder mystery or two. With that being said, here are what I think are the best films of 2022!

Saying Goodbye to the Jon’s Creator Showcase

Thank You for 5 Great Years!

Today I am writing to both thank everyone who has ever participated in the Jon’s Creator Showcase as well as bring this era of my community content to a formal close. If you somehow haven’t heard about #TheJCS, you can read about it here. For those of you who have, I am sure this news is somewhat sad but know that in spite of my ending the program, it was well worth starting and something that everyone should be proud to have participated in. This program lasted longer than I ever expected it to, and by no means am I disappointed with it when all’s said and done.

Avatar: The Way of Water – Film Review

When the first Avatar came out, it was an experience like no other. Becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time with over $2 billion worldwide in ticket sales, dethroning director James Cameron’s 1997 juggernaut Titanic from the top. Over 13 years later, and it is time to return to Pandora with The Way of Water, the second in a planned franchise. While it may not be as groundbreaking as the first Avatar with its visually-arresting atmosphere, The Way of Water is an intense ride once again worth seeing just for the experience, if not for the 3-D. I went with my fiancee and her mom for Christmas and, as expected, they loved it. While I was just along for the ride, just sitting, trying to take in the world I never thought that we would come back to.

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya Extra Route 2 – Time to Collect the Clo-, I mean Class Cards!

Better Than Expected, Still Not Great

For this huge undertaking that has been the Fate franchise retrospective, I’ll admit that Illya was added to the review roster mostly for myself. I don’t actually expect anyone to rush out and see this, regardless of what I have to say, but there was some fun to be had in this Cardcaptor Sakura clone spun Fate. That’s actually a bit reductive. Illya manages to settle into its own thing by the end of the first 10 episodes, but if you aren’t already a Fate fan, there’s not much here for you that other (better) shows of the magical girl genre can offer. Even still, I’m hopeful for what’s yet to come with this one. Want to know more? You’ll just have to read on to find out!

Jon’s Bizarre Adventure – Disappointed in Stone Ocean

My JoJo adventure continues…

To understand why I’m so disappointed with Stone Ocean you have to go back to the beginning. This isn’t my first look at the JoJo franchise, in fact I’ve done a deep dive you should read before this one as it should help to explain why I just didn’t enjoy this latest installment. One of the reasons I caught up on the entire franchise was in preparation for Stone Ocean, which has had considerable hype from the community well before it ever existed in anime form. Now that it has come to an end, I’m sorry to report that it may not be worth your time.

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio – Film Review

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio is the latest adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s story of the little wooden puppet who strives to be a real boy, while getting into all sorts of mischief and learning some lessons along the way. We are most familiar with the animated Disney movie from 1940 (which ended up getting a live-action remake just this year), yet Del Toro’s version is a bit distant from its counterpart, being that it is a darker version supposedly closer to the source material. With all the many versions, however, you would probably be tired of seeing yet another film version of Pinocchio. Thankfully, Del Toro’s film is inventive enough to stand out from the rest, as it deals with thematic material, which not even Robert Zemeckis’ Disney remake could not even pull off. I would even say that this may be the best version of Pinocchio I have seen since the original Disney film.