Shmee.Me

April 29, 2014April 29, 2014

Disney Killed The Star Wars Expanded Universe, And It Is OK!

When I first head that Disney was going to kill off the current Star Wars Expanded Universe, I was dumb struck. “How dare they just toss out the stories that I love!”, I thought, but the more I think about it, the more I am okay with it. Disney wants to make a Star Wars Universe that is cohesive and make sense, and that is a good thing.

Most of the stuff in the Expanded Universe was pretty awful anyway, and honestly a lot of it didn’t fit together, so it was broken. Disney starting over allows them to pick and choose the good ideas out of the EU, and ignore all the garbage. We don’t know what they are going to keep at this point, but they did give us a few examples: The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems from the table top RPG are in the new cartoon, so you never know your favorite EU Star Wars character may still make it in.

Even if something we like doesn’t make the cut it isn’t like it is going to cease to exist. They didn’t make EA take down Star Wars: The Old Republic, Wookieepedia is still going strong, and the books on your shelf didn’t disappear. It just isn’t necessarily going to be treated as canon going forward. If this was a comic book universe the fans would care less because they toss stuff out of the canon all the time. It is just a big deal to Star Wars geeks because it has held together for as long as it has.

If the new stuff from Disney is awesome nobody will even remember that they tossed out the current Expanded Universe and started over. They will just be enjoying the cool new stories. As long as Disney has Chewbacca getting crushed by a Moon (best death ever) the world will keep on spinning fellow Meatbags!

February 4, 2014February 4, 2014

Disneyland’s Top Ten Rides!

As some of you may have noticed (no one did) I missed a couple of posts last week, and that was because I was in Disneyland, so why not blog about my vacation! Since real posts are hard, I am going to do what every lazy blogger does and make a list (take that Buzz Feed). Here are my top ten Disneyland/Disneyland California rides in reverse order:

10: Splash Mountain

Disney was not content to just make another log ride, so they incorporated one with their now little known animated short Bre’r Rabbit. The ride has tons of charm, and features some great drops. This ride is even better on a hot day.

9: Indiana Jones Adventure

This ride used to towards the top for me, but it has not aged well. That being said it is as close as you can get to being in an Indiana Jones movie.

8: Toy Story Midway Mania

When I first heard about this ride I was unimpressed, “Why would I want to play video games in Disneyland?” I thought to myself, but I was wrong. The ride is fun, and the games are creative. Besides who doesn’t want to play with Woody and his pals?

7: Tower of Terror

When this ride first came out I thought it was going to be a bad Haunted Mansion rip off, but I was wrong. Getting dropped by this haunted elevator is a ton of fun, and the Twilight Zone link just makes it that much better.

6: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

I love wooden roller coasters, but Disneyland doesn’t have any. Big Thunder is as close as it gets, but without all the jarring that comes from the real deal.

5: Peter Pan’s Flight

This is the only Fantasy Land ride on my list, but it is fantastic. I would fly around on that pirate ship forever if they would let me!

4: California Screamin’

This is the only standard roller coaster Disneyland has, but it is a great one. It starts fast, and it doesn’t let up. It is a can’t miss!

3: Radiator Springs Racers

It is not a big secret that I don’t like the Cars movies very much, but Disney has outdone themselves with Cars Land. It is like being in the movie, and the best part of their land is Radiator Springs Racers. It mixes old school Disney animatronics with a thrilling race, and it is a ton of fun!

2: Star Tours

This pick should be no surprise to followers of my site. I love Star Wars, and the new Star Tours with the different planets makes me giddy every time I go on it. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with C3PO and R2-D2 and travel around the galaxy?

1: Space Mountain

This ride has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, and it still is the best. The speed combined with the fact you can’t see where you are going is exhilarating. Plus it is in space, so that is awesome.

That is my list, and I hope you liked it! Disagree? Just leave your list below.

November 27, 2013November 27, 2013

Free To Play Ruins Star Wars: Tiny Death Star!

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star is created by NimbleBit the same people that made the very successful Tiny Tower. It is published by Disney Mobile and Lucas Arts. It is out for pretty much every major platform, but I would advise against it.

The game starts off well with Emperor Palpatine telling Darth Vader his new plan to finance the Death Star by getting people to move in, pay rent, and buy stuff. It is very funny and it fills in one of the major plot holes of Star Wars: “How the heck could they pay for the Death Star?”

The writing is fantastic and funny. It pokes fun at Star Wars, but with more than a little love. It also has a great look, and characters from the Star Wars Universe have never been cuter. All of them are in this game with their own little cut scenes.

After that it quickly goes down hill. Like many RTS type games, you are in charge of planning out the apartments and stores for the people known as Bitzens, but the rates that these things build or restock is ridiculously slow unless you spend Imperial Bucks which of course can be paid for with real bucks. Also if you want things to run well you need to hire VIPs which again you can pay for will real money.

If they balanced this game well it would have been worth quite a few dollars, but in its current state it is unplayable unless you pay, and once you start paying there is no telling how much it will cost. With the Star Wars license, geeks like me would have paid for a good game, but to be nickel and dimed every three seconds is just too much. If they come out with well balanced flat fee game, I would recommend it, but not as it is.

May 7, 2013May 7, 2013

The Force is with Star War Pinball

For Star Wars day Microsoft had the Star Wars Pinball tables for Pinball FX2 half off, so for 400 points or $5 I got three tables: An Empire Strikes Back table, a Clone Wars cartoon table, and a Boba Fett table.

I had never bought any Pinball FX2 tables before, so I was worried that when I bought the Star Wars add-on that now I was going to have buy the full pinball game to go with it, but luckily there is a free base package you can get that just allows you to use the tables you have bought.

I have not played electronic pinball for a long time, but it is still a lot of fun. I really like the Empire Strikes Back table. The only problem is that sometimes there is so much going on in the tables that I just want to watch it all, and I loose track of the ball, but I am sure that is the point.

They are a lot of fun, and something I can play if I only have fifteen minutes to spare, so for me it was 400 points well spent.

March 13, 2013March 13, 2013

My Favorite Five Movies!

I decided to share my favorite five movies, and for me this is a hard list to put together, but I buckled down and picked five movies that if you came over to my house I would watch even though I have seen them several times. The critics may not agree with me, but who cares it is my list, and as soon as you write something on the internet you are wrong anyway. So here it goes.

5: Spriggan

When I first moved out of the house and in with my group of friends, we watched this movie all the time. It follows the most convoluted plot about Noah’s ark that you will ever hear, but what makes it great are the crazy over the top characters. There is a guy with a chain gun arm that can throw a helicopter at you! It makes me smile just to think about it.

4: The Muppets Christmas Carol

This is by far the best version of the Christmas Carol that has ever been made, and it features The Muppets. Double points! It is one of two movies that I need to watch every Christmas, but it is the one I look forward to the most (Maybe if you ask nice I will tell you the other movie). Everything from the sets to the cast are spot on in this movie. It is just fantastic.

3: Gross Pointe Blank

It doesn’t get much better for a dark comedy then Gross Pointe Blank. John Cusack is an assassin that goes back to his high school reunion to find himself. There he meets up with his old flame, and all sorts of crap hits the fan. It is funny and has a good amount of action. This movie made John Cusack my favorite actor for awhile, then he started making bad movies and that ended, but Gross Pointe Blank is still great.

2: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

It is not often that a middle movie of a trilogy is so awesome, but The Empire Strikes Back is. It has Yoda, Hoth, and a flying cloud city, and I think it has the best writing of all the Star Wars movies. This is Gorge Lucas’ best film. It is so good that despite all the crud that has happened to Star Wars over the years, I am still a Star Wars geek.

1: Dark City

There are very few noir Sci-Fi movies out there that are any good, but Dark City is not only good it is amazing, and so far my favorite movie of all time. This movie sets the tone so well and as we figure out who John is we also unravel the secrets of the bizarre world that he lives in. I think every film buff needs to watch this movie.

So there you have it. I am sure you disagree with me on my picks, but that is your right. I would love to hear what your favorite movies are, so leave me a comment and let me know.