Super Recaps: My Little Pony season 6 (Gauntlet of Fire)

April 17, 2016 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 Comments

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Hasbro.

Episode directed by Denny Lu and Tim Stuby

We’re back with another episode of Let’s See What Spike Does with Too Much Power, as seems to be the premise of most episodes that involve him. That doesn’t change here as this episode is all about Spike and the Dragon Kingdom; the latter of which we haven’t really seen since Dragon Quest from season two. Will this be another episode that shows how great of a character Spike can be while also showing us new and interesting details about the dragons in this world, or will this just be another episode that pokes fun at Spike’s incompetence while also not doing much with the other dragons? Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Spike doing what he does best; menial tasks for Rarity to maintain his firm placement in the Friend Zone. Right now, he’s filling the role of a pack mule while Rarity harvests her own crystals out of a cave somewhere. Props to her for going that far to get good jewels, though you’d think there’d be someone else who would get paid to do this. Her business is successful enough to have three locations, yet she has the time to go mine her own resources?

MLPS6E05-1 — “Those bastards aren’t gonna price gouge ME!” “Yup. And your gonna stick it to them by bringing a baby with you to do manual labor. Good job there Rarity. Fight the power!”

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Super Recaps: My Little Pony season 6 (On Your Marks)

April 10, 2016 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Hasbro.

Episode directed by Denny Lu and Tim Stuby

We back with another episode of Cutie Mark Crusaders: The After Years! Considering they earned their marks towards the end of last season, we haven’t really had time to address what they would be doing now that they are no longer crusading. Will they’re post Cutie Mark debut be the start of new adventures and possibilities, or is this episode gonna be a huge admission of buyer’s remorse? Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with the Cutie Mark Crusaders decidedly not crusading for cutie marks to the Apple Bloom’ chagrin who would rather their time be spent not looking at each other’s asses.

MLPS6E04-1 — “Did you see my Cutie Mark!?” “Yes, I’ve seen your Cutie Mark.” “No, but did you REALLY see it?” “I’m pretty sure I have.” “Well look again just to make sure!” “Yeah Apple Bloom! And then you can look at MINE again!”

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Super Recaps: My Little Pony season 6 (The Gift of the Maud Pie)

April 3, 2016 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 Comments

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Hasbro.

Episode directed by Denny Lu and Tim Stuby

Season six started on a rather low key note with last week’s premiere not having much in regards to stakes or world building outside of the introduction of Flurry Heart. Still, while season five may have started SPECTACULARLY strong, it was right after the premiere that things started to go downhill with Castle Sweet Castle being a mindless slog to get through. Can this episode manage to keep the quality consistent with what we saw before, or is this season destined to have the same nose dive that season five found itself in when it refused to build off of what had been set up? Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Rarity and Pinkie Pie on a train headed for Manehattan with the one looking to open a third boutique location (the best idea for any small business owner is apparently to overextend themselves) and the other on her way to visit Maud Pie; one of the more recent challengers for title of Best Pony.

MLPS6E03-1 — “What about ME!? I’m the quirky one who breaks the fourth wall! I SHOULD BE THE FAVORITE!!” “Just because it worked for Deadpool-” “Oh THIS again!!”

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Super Recaps: My Little Pony season 6 (The Crystalling)

March 28, 2016March 28, 2016 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ 5 Comments

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Hasbro.

Episodes directed by Denny Lu and Tim Stuby

It feels like it was just yesterday that this show was still on the air and not living up to it’s potential, doesn’t it? Season five was overall a disappointment, mainly due to the MacGuffin they introduced being underutilized (the Cutie Map) and the finale not really having the kind of punch and significance that we are used to getting from this show. There were more than a few important and satisfying episodes throughout the season (The Cutie Map, Slice of Life, Rarity Investigates, Crusaders of the Lost Mark) but taken as a whole it just didn’t do much to advance our main characters or the world that they inhabit. Fortunately, the best thing Hasbro could have done was to minimize the hiatus between season which means we can move forward right away so that fans (like me) aren’t moping for too long about the mediocrity of the last season. Can they manage to recapture the magic of this series with a smart and exciting season premiere, or will the mediocrity continue as we slowly realize that the show has reached its peak? Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Starlight Glimmer walking through the halls of Twilight’s Doom Fortress; looking for the library and hanging lampshades along the way.

MLPS6E01-1 — “It sure is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside! I wonder if that’s a reference to something… *COUGH* Badwolf *COUGH* Excuse me. Must have something in my throat.”

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Cinema Dispatch: Jem and the Holograms

October 29, 2015September 6, 2020 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ 7 Comments

Jem and the Holograms and all the images you see in this review are owned by Universal Pictures

Directed by Jon M Chu

We all saw the trailer and most of us had one reaction which was to try and repress our gag reflexes. It just seemed like a really poor adaptation of a cartoon that probably means a lot for many people and a much lesser version of what we’re currently getting from the IDW comics. Still, trailers aren’t always accurate in showing what a movie will ultimately be, and the director is someone I think has quite a bit of talent. Can they manage to make something at least half way decent of a series that’s ripe for an updated adaptation? Yeah… no. It’s not good at all. Just how bad did they screw this up? Let’s find out!!

The movie follows Jerrica Benton (Aubrey Peeples) who lives with her aunt (Molly Ringwald), her sister Kimber (Stefanie Scott), and her two foster sisters Shana and Aja (Aurora Perrineau and Hayley Kiyoko). Her father died some time ago which is why she and Kimberly are living with Claire Standish and her the other two and the only thing he seems to have left (the guy most not have had insurance) is a non-functioning robot he made and a pair of ear rings that sadly don’t do what you think they should do. All is not good at the house Pretty in Pink bought however, because the bank is foreclosing on them for… some reason, and Jerrica finds out about it. In what I guess is either a despite move to get internet famous or an outlet of her frustration, she puts on a bunch of make, hides in the shadows, and films herself singing a song she wrote. She’s too afraid to post it online because they had to put in at least SOMETHING Jem related (Jerrica’s fear of performing) but Kimber ends up getting a hold of it puts it online. Sure enough, a poorly filmed video of a girl singing while strumming an acoustic guitar becomes the next big YouTube sensation and everyone is instantly in love with whoever this Jem is. In comes the EVIL head of Starlight Records Erica Raymond (Juliette Lewis playing a gender swapped version of Eric Raymond) to offer Jem a deal with her label. She eventually agrees, gets her siblings to go along with her (not the Aunt because who needs adult supervision these days?) and they begin their journey to super stardom with all its ups and downs, betrayals and reconciliations, romances with hot dudes, and everything else you’ve seen before. Oh, and the robot’s name is Synergy and it’s doing… something. Whatever. OH! And Rio is actually Erica’s son. Because why not.

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Super Recaps: Equestria Girls: Friendship Games

October 1, 2015July 3, 2016 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

For the third year in a row, the mad geniuses behind Friendship is Magic has brought us a movie based on what might be one of the dumbest and cynical ideas that you could come up with for a spinoff of a fantasy series. If you think about it, this is the same crazy idea that led to awful movies like Highlander 2: The Quickening, Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time, and Masters of the Universe. Somehow though, despite all that was working against them, the team that made colorful horses into a cross generational smash hit managed to make Equestria Girls into a quality and meaningful extension of the series. Neither of the previous films were perfect, but they managed to be a lot of fun and at brought a bit of variety to the franchise which is more than I think anyone was expecting. Now they’re back with the third movie which looks to go even more in depth with the parallel universe gimmick by making the Twilight Spark of this universe the focus of this outing. Will they be able to knock it out the park again with this movie, or have they gone as far as they can with this secondary series? Let’s find out!!

The movie begins with everyone running frantically to school to face whatever new threat has befallen them this time. Oh no wait, Rainbow Dash just needs a new guitar string. Well, to SOME people that would be an emergency (mainly Rainbow Dash). Oh well, at least there’s absolutely NOTHING strange going on at this school for once and everyone can… wait who’s that?