xoliana
Member Since: July 31, 2016Reviews
Fargo season two
This is season two of the television series Fargo, the first season of which has very loose ties to the Coen Brothers film by the same name. There are ten episodes in total, each of which have a running time of approximately 55 minutes. It boasts... +
This is season two of the television series Fargo, the first season of which has very loose ties to the Coen Brothers film by the same name. There are ten episodes in total, each of which have a running time of approximately 55 minutes. It boasts a stellar cast including Ted Danson, Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, Brad Garrett, and many others, most of whom were nominated for their work.
Fargo is an anthology series, meaning each season is meant to stand on its own without necessarily having to watch previous seasons. This is related to the first season in that the lead character, Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson), was also in the first season (played by Keith Carradine). In the first season, Lou makes reference to something called the massacre at Sioux Falls, which sounds both mysterious and chilling. This is what the second season is largely about, as the show takes us back in time to the late seventies and introduces us to twocrime syndicates at war with one another.
I absolutely loved the first season of Fargo, and while I love this season as well, it's almost like watching a completely different show. Thematically, it doesn't feel at all similar, and the cast of characters is so different that the viewing experience makes for something altogether unfamiliar. I noticed that while critics adored it, many viewers seemed to be somewhat dissatisfied, some of them even confused, by season two. I think it's best to go into it with an open mind, knowing that it's not going to be a duplicate of season one, otherwise I think you may very well end up being disappointed.
All of the acting is great, but Kirsten Dunst was a standout for me in terms of character and performance. She has grown so much over the last several years as a performer. She's so much fun to watch here, as her portrayal of a ditzy housewife with illusions of grandeur has to be one of the best performances I've seen on TV in quite awhile. It's a true shame that she didn't win an award for her work.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a short series to watch. It's definitely not necessary to have watched season one, but season one is so good that you should give it a look anyway.
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50/50
50/50 is a 2011 film written by Will Reiser, based on his personal experience with battling cancer. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as his alter ego Adam Lerner, and also stars Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick. The film is about Adam, who has been... +
50/50 is a 2011 film written by Will Reiser, based on his personal experience with battling cancer. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as his alter ego Adam Lerner, and also stars Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick.
The film is about Adam, who has been suffering back pain and finds out that he has a rare type of cancer called a schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma (and as one of the elderly characters quips in the film, "the more syllables it has, the worse it is."). The film follows him and his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) as he tries to cope with his diagnosis while carrying on with his daily life as best as he possibly can.
This is such a wonderful film. It's as much a comedy as it is a drama, which just goes to show that just because you're sick, it doesn't mean you have to stop making jokes. So many films that revolve around illnesses are dark and sad, but this one is full of life, which I honestly think makes it more realistic. It's obviously not making light of cancer -- far from it, considering the writer is drawing from his own experience -- but it's showing the audience that there can be light along with having cancer.
The performances are also what make this film so great to watch. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was nominated for a Golden Globe for this role, and he really deserved it. The scenes where he's breaking down and showing how scared he really is are very heartwrenching scenes. Everything about his performance seems very real.
This is rated R and has a running time of 100 minutes. There's quite a bit of crude humour and drug use (though most of it is medicinal), so if you're sensitive to that sort of thing I may stay away. Otherwise, I would dedinitely recommend this to anyone looking for an offbeat and uplifting film.
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Spirit Halloween Metallic Press On Nails
I bought these metallic press-on nails to be used as part of my Halloween costume, but they're actually really neat, and I could see wearing them for a special occasion of some sort if you're into that sort of thing. Full disclosure: I have... +
I bought these metallic press-on nails to be used as part of my Halloween costume, but they're actually really neat, and I could see wearing them for a special occasion of some sort if you're into that sort of thing.
Full disclosure: I have horrible nails. I go through large periods of time where I bite them, usually because of physocal duress. They also have weird little gaps and tears in them from my health problems, so even when I do actually leave them alone, they just don't look nice. These press-ons were a good option for me to give my costume that extra touch, because the person I was portraying has a perfectly manicured appearance.
There are 24 nails in this package, which is a lot, but it's also a bit of a weird number when you think about it. You have five nails on each hand, ten total. Why not 25 or 30? Anyway, the range of sizes is quite nice, and it makes it easy to choose the right nail for each finger. I have very slender fingers and small nails, but I still found my right match very easily.
I messed up when I took them out of the package, because as soon as I opened up the cover, they kind of just went flying everywhere. The adhesive is already on the back of them, so some of them got stuck together. I was able to salvage all of them, though, and it worked out okay in the end. Just be very careful when you open them.
I found that the adhesive was strong enough to keep them on for a few hours without coming off. I did wash my hands, but they stayed on. They weren't terribly difficult to remove; the package says you can soak your hands for a few minutes, but I found I didn't need to. My nails were a tad sticky, but the residue came off easily under a stream of water. As someone who is generally sensitive to adhesives, my experience with these was pleasant.
I would definitely wear these again and would recommend them to anyone looking for something a little different to try.
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Spirit Halloween Satin Black Eye Patch
This is a pretty basic black eye patch that you can use for different costumes. Or, you know, if you wanted to rock a pirate look in everyday life ;) It says "one size fits most", which I would imagine is true unless you have an extremely small or... +
This is a pretty basic black eye patch that you can use for different costumes. Or, you know, if you wanted to rock a pirate look in everyday life ;)
It says "one size fits most", which I would imagine is true unless you have an extremely small or extremely large head. I have neither, but I wore this over the bulk of a wig, and it stretched to fit with plenty of room left. It didn't feel too tight and uncomfortable, nor did it feel too loose and feel like it was slipping.
The fabric is satin, as it says on the package, so there is a bit of a sheen to it. This is not, however, a soft eye patch, and what I mean by that is that there is a hard shell which helps it keep its shape. It's not going to lay flat against your eye, which does make it feel slightly awkward. There's absolutely no give to it at all, no flexibility to the actual patch portion. I would have liked it better if it didn't have that hard shell. The patch itself is also quite large, as I found it looked kind of big on my face, but I do have slender features.
This product is only $1.99, though, so overall, I feel as though you can't really go wrong.
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Spirit Halloween Fashionista Bob Wig
The Fashionista Bob Wig is definitely modelled after fashion editor Anna Wintour. The photo on the package shows a severe-looking woman with pin-straight blonde hair down to her jaw, wearing overlarge sunglasses anda white shirt. It's the spitting... +
The Fashionista Bob Wig is definitely modelled after fashion editor Anna Wintour. The photo on the package shows a severe-looking woman with pin-straight blonde hair down to her jaw, wearing overlarge sunglasses anda white shirt. It's the spitting image of her. Too bad the wig didn't actually look like that.
Okay, so this wig was roughly $20, and I know, you get what you pay for, but it's still not really fair to show someone with a completely different wig on. It's such poor representation of the product you're actually getting,which is very thick, very poofy, very long, and not at all flat. I looked everywhere online to get tips on how to fix a cheap wig, and luckily I was able to get some help.
I ended up wetting this wig and straightening it on a low heat. I made my own little DIY head to put the wig on every night, at which point I would flatten the hair to the head and tuck the ends underneath so the weight of the head would pull, straighten, and flatten the hair even more. I cut it. I wrapped tin foil around my hair straightener and straightened it some more. By the time I did all this, yes, it was what I would deem wearable (though by no means perfect), but was it worth it? I feel like you may as well just save up for a better wig instead of going through all the trouble I went through.
Bottom line, only buy this if you're willing to sacrifice the time and the effort necessary to make the wig look even halfway decent. Otherwise, just go onto Amazon and buy something made of Kanekalon fibres or better.
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Spirit Halloween - London, Ontario
I went to the Spirit Halloween location in London, Ontario (in Westmount Mall). The layout of the store was done quite nicely, with different genres of outfits separated into different sections. Some of the prices were quite high, for full... +
I went to the Spirit Halloween location in London, Ontario (in Westmount Mall). The layout of the store was done quite nicely, with different genres of outfits separated into different sections. Some of the prices were quite high, for full costumes and large decorations in particular, but the things that I ended up buying were fairly priced.
I was looking to buy a brown wig to dress up as Sarah Manning from Orphan Black. Her hairstyle isn't exactly weird or uncommon, yet I couldn't find a single wig that looked like her hair. I did find one that looked like Rachel Duncan's hair (also from the same show), but it ended up not looking at all as pictured (I will review that separately).
I ended up wanting to buy an eye patch. I figured it would either be in the accessories section or with the pirate costumes, but not having been there before, I had no idea where to look. I have a bad hip and I didn't want to wander all over the very large store trying to find one, so I asked an employee. She had no idea where the eye patches were located, but said she would ask. Five minutes later, I see her coming back to me with another employee who is looking up and down the aisles, completely lost. Finally, one of them finds an eye patch in the pirate costumes (surprise!), and points me in the right direction. The store had been open for months -- how did they not know where their own stuff was?
Eventually I get to the checkout. I have a total of three items, which I pay for, and I take my bag and go home. When I get home, I was charged for the three items, but only two are in the bag. I had to go all the way back to the store with my bill and explain to them the situation, where the cashier tells me she "dropped it" in amongst the other bags. ??? My bag was up on the counter, how the heck did my item not make it into my bag? It was RIGHT THERE. And for those wondering why I wasn't watching them put the items into the bag to have avoided this mess, I had donated money to their Sick Kids fund and was busy signing my name on a card for them. I naturally just assumed all items were in the bag.
The staff just didn't seem to be on the ball at all. I was very unimpressed with the three different individuals I interacted with. The store itself was okay, but other things detracted from the experience, and I can't see myselfgoing there again.
Additionally, when I posted a question to their Facebook page online about the wig -- I commented on the fact that it looked nothing like as presented on the package, and if they had any suggestions for making it look a bit smoother -- I got no response. I wasn't at all rude, but it seems they only reply to those who are 100% sunshine and rainbows about their products.
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The Avengers (3D Blu-ray Combo)
The Avengers is a film that's part of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was released in 2012 and was written and directed by Joss Whedon. If you're a comic fan, you probably already know what this is about. If not, this is the origin... +
The Avengers is a film that's part of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was released in 2012 and was written and directed by Joss Whedon.
If you're a comic fan, you probably already know what this is about. If not, this is the origin story of how the superhero group The Avengers came to assemble under the watchful eye of S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury. There's Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). They need to come together to take down Thor's evil brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who is trying to get his hands on alien technology in order to enslave the human race
This is a big-budget popcorn movie at its finest. There's a lot of action, special effects, and a lot of great humour as well. The chemistry between all of the characters is wonderful. It's pretty hard to imagine making a good film with so many characters sharing the screen at once, but somehow it works. Nothing feels too rushed or too cluttered. They didn't need to spend a lot of time on backstory because so many of the characters already appeared in previous MCU films, so they were able to get right to the meat of it.
This is a really fun movie that I would recommend not just to any comic fans, but fans of entertainment in general. It's well-made and worth sitting down to watch for the 143 minute running time.
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Funimation
Funimation is an anime (Japanese animation) subscription service. It allows you to pay a fee to legally stream bew and old anime shows and films on a computer, mobile device, streaming stick (such as a Chromecast), or game console. There's a free... +
Funimation is an anime (Japanese animation) subscription service. It allows you to pay a fee to legally stream bew and old anime shows and films on a computer, mobile device, streaming stick (such as a Chromecast), or game console. There's a free trial period, after which you can choose from a few different payment plans: 1) free, which subjects you to ads, limited availability, and lower stream quality; 2) $5.99/month for their full catalogue.
(There used to be a third option, which was $4.95 and would permit you to stream their subtitled anime only, but a recent announcement made it clear that Funimation is no longer going to be producing subs, just dubs, and all of their subtitled anime will be moving to Crunchyroll. I was paying $4.95, but they cancelled my payment plan and put me on an All-Access pass, likely until their library is moved.)
I find that the streaming quality isn't as good for Funimation as it is with my other services. I stream through my Playstation 3 console, and it often has little pauses to buffer the video while the audio continues to play on. As someone who primarily watches subtitled anime, this can be a bit annoying. Additionally, their library is nowhere near as large or as good as Crunchyroll's, so I'm happy that I'll only have to pay for one of them in the end.
If you prefer to watch your anime dubbed, this is the better anime service for you. If you prefer subtitles, I wouldrecommend Crunchyroll instead.
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Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is the anime(Japanese animation) version of Netflix. It's a subscription service which allows you to legally stream both new and old anime shows and films, either on a computer, mobile device, streaming stick (such as a Chromecast), or... +
Crunchyroll is the anime(Japanese animation) version of Netflix. It's a subscription service which allows you to legally stream both new and old anime shows and films, either on a computer, mobile device, streaming stick (such as a Chromecast), or gaming system. Most shows are subtitled, with very few allowing the option for English dubs.
Although there is a free trial period and some episodes can be watched with a free membership, the premium version -- which allows full access to the entire catalogue of shows as well as their manga (Japanese comic) -- costs $6.95 per month. I find this to be extremely reasonable given the amount of content available and the amount that they are constantly adding (new anime seasons typically start every 12 weeks).
Crunchyroll probably has the largest library currently available, as they seem to get the most new licenses every year. They also have something called a simulcast, which means that when a new episode airs in Japan, it will be available to watch within an hour. This does mean that once in awhile you'll find a small typo in the subtitles,because sometimes they're working quickly to get them up, but overall they're usually flawless and really high quality. The picture and stream quality is also very good (I stream through a Playstation 3 console).
Considering how many illegal anime services are available online, I think it's great that a service like Crunchyroll exists and at such a great price. This helps support an already delicate industry, and I encourage every anime fan to please watch their favourite shows legally to ensure their longevity.
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Lundberg Family Farms Sweet Dreams Brown Rice Syrup
This is the only brown rice syrup I've tried for baking purposes, so I don't really have any other brand to compare it to. Brown rice syrup is used as a sweetener in various recipes, much like you would use something like honey or even refined... +
This is the only brown rice syrup I've tried for baking purposes, so I don't really have any other brand to compare it to. Brown rice syrup is used as a sweetener in various recipes, much like you would use something like honey or even refined sugar. It's considered to be a much healthier alternative to other sweeteners, and is gluten-free and vegan (honey is not).
As far as taste goes, it's very, very sweet, so a little goes a long way. Although it's called a "brown rice" syrup, because it's derived from the actual grain, it has no similarities in taste to rice at all. While you can definitely replace other syrups with this, it doesn't have the same flavour or consistency, so any recipe will of course be slightly altered. This has a very thick consistency that is similar to honey, but in my opinion is a bit stickier.
This is a very good product to sweeten recipes with. I don't really enjoy the taste on its own, but in baking it works out very well, and I would recommend it for that reason.
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