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It was a bad slot if you were a night person, like me.

Yep, I'm giving the movie a chance.

For your question Belchic, the Paw Patrol movie's listing on Wikipedia currently says this:

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 6.40/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Maybe Robotnik needs an ally for the time being? They could be building up to introduce Metal Sonic or Shadow.

Well, a few tributes are coming. Plus I have a victory in the sporting world to celebrate.

You will see them soon.

Random Fact #4373:

In the mid 1990s, Japanese game designer Kenji Eno, who worked for a company called WARP, was inspired by the rise of FMV and the concept of treating video games like interactive movies so he did what he felt was the next logical step: creating a virtual celebrity. His character, a female 'actress' named Laura, would be his game star.

Laura's first game, simply titled D, was a horror-themed interactive adventure movie game originally released for the 3DO and would later be ported over to the PlayStation, Saturn and MS-DOS. The game was released in 1995. The player, as Laura Harris learns her father mysteriously went on a killing rampage and now must try to learn why her father's gone bonkers. The game predated the Resident Evil series and would require the player to solve puzzles and get to the end of the game within a two-hour limit otherwise they would fail.

To ensure the game would be released in the form he wanted, Kenji Eno literally resorted to fraud. He released the game with no storyline, withholding the game's cutscenes from his own staff and submitted a clean version of the original game for approval. He then delibrately submitted the master game late as he would have to deliver it personally to the American developers. It gave him enough time to switch the original game with the final version with more disturbing content, bypassing the censors. It doubtlessly damaged his reputation once the ruse was discovered, but to him it was apparently worth it.

The game was a critical and commercial success in Japan and even got a re-release. It was also a success in the West with reviewers of the original 3DO game found it to be one of the best games for the console. Sony apparently did not print enough copies to satisfy pre-orders for PlayStation owners, angering Eno. He would spite Sony by making Laura's future games Sega exclusives.

Laura, using a different surname, would go on to be the star of two more Sega-exclusive games: Saturn game Enemy Zero (1996), a game that was mixed-to-positive, and the Dreamcast game D2 in 1999.

Despite its title, D2 was its own game, not a sequel to D.

D2 was met with average reviews. After it proved to be a commercial failure, WARP shut down, and Laura's career came to an end.

This weekend we are getting Vivo.

Wow. The reviews are actually really good. Here's the synopsis on Wikipedia:

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 91% of 23 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average score of 6.80/10. The films critical consensus reads: "Vivo offers few surprises, but this attractively animated adventure is enlivened by the catchy songs contributed by star Lin-Manuel Miranda."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Huh. I have something to look forward to this weekend!

Minions (2015)

Distributor: Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment
Director: Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda
Cast: Pierre Coffin (Kevin, Stuart, Bob, the Minions), Sandra Bullock (Scarlet Overkill), Jon Hamm (Herb Overkill), Michael Keaton (Walter Nelson), Allison Janney (Madge Nelson), Steve Coogan (Professor Flux, Tower Guard), Jennifer Saunders (Queen Elizabeth II), Geoffrey Rush (Narrator)
Runtime: 91 min.
MPAA rating: PG (action, rude humor)

In this Despicable Me prequel, Minions have existed since the dawn of time, looking for a villainous master they can serve. Keeping one, well that’s another story. Having inadvertently eliminating some of the world’s most notorious villains, Minion kind is on the verge of collapse being sad and depressed. To give their brethren new hope, Kevin recruits Stuart and Bob to head to New York City in search of a new evil master. Once there, it is found to be in the year 1968, where they hear of a “Villain Con” set down in Orlando. They go there and win the attention of Scarlet Overkill, the world’s first female career supervillain. Taking them to her home in England, they wind up being drafted as pawns in a scheme to steal the Crown Jewels and overthrow the Queen. So do you think Kevin, Stuart and Bob can succeed in their quest to find a master they can keep and therefore save all of Minionkind?

With the mega success of Despicable Me 2, the public was very much in love with the Despicable Me franchise. Even today, you will find Minions merchandise of any kind. There is even an app game called Minion Rush and a ride at Universal Studios called Minion Mayhem! Being that the Minions are still very popular, it brought to light a weird thought: what would it be like if the Minions had their own movie? That was probably on peoples’ minds, not to mention if it was possible, when it was announced in 2012. Can the Minions truly carry a movie?

The initial reviews were mixed, but the box-office gross more than made up for it; with over $1 billion in ticket sales, it became the 5th highest-grossing movie of 2015 and the highest grossing non-Disney animated film. At the same time, we were supposed to get Minions: Rise of Gru for a bit now, but due to the fact it was delayed yet again no thanks to the Corona Virus (this time to 2022), I decided to revisit this Despicable Me prequel for a review.

This movie is pretty simple and not overly demanding. If you are a fan of the Minions from the Despicable Me movies, and chances are you are, then this movie is going to be worth your time. The movie’s story is, as you might expect from an Illumination Entertainment film, not the deepest and doesn’t make any real sense. The movie doesn’t feel completely sure where it wants to go or do, they go from New York to Orlando to London it feels very much like the movie has kids as it’s main audience. It may be a kids’ movie and kids first, but it’s a fun kids’ movie and one that has enough adult minded jokes to satisfy adults. I’m not talking in terms of profane language or sex jokes; the movie is supposed to have most of its runtime set in 1968 and there’s plenty of old-fashioned pop culture jokes that more mature viewers will get. There’s references to the Beatles, Bewitched, The Dating Game, etc. Thankfully, while on the hunt for an evil master to serve, the Minions do not seem to consider being henchmen to Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany (that would just be wrong).

Now about the characters, I’ll start with the three main Minions. Kevin is the group leader and thus the responsible one, Stuart is more of a rebellious teenager and Bob is the cute, innocent one. Basically imagine Alvin and the Chipmunks where Simon is the leader and Alvin is working under him and Theodore is unchanged. These characters, by nature, do not lend to a movie with a great deal of depth or great aesthetic maturity, but given its 1960s setting, I’d say it’s appropriate? For their new boss that they want to serve, Scarlet Overkill, I do have some mixed feelings on her and her husband Herb. I will say Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm clearly enjoyed their roles and they do a solid performance, but I will say that in regards to being a springboard for the Minions she isn’t the best; I can explain. In the Despicable Me movies, the Minions were the funny characters and their boss, that being Felonius Gru, was more like a straight character. He was like a rock to their insanity and that actually helped make the Minions funny. Scarlet and her husband are more like funny characters on top of funny characters and that makes it a bit much. I’m sure kids will love it being that it’s almost like being on a sugar rush but adults may like to take this in small doses. The only other characters of note are the Nelsons, a criminal family that helps Kevin, Stuart and Bob get to Orlando.

Minions isn’t a great movie but it is fun. It’s not supposed to be world-changing, all it wants to do is make you laugh and in that regard it succeeds. Being a fan of the Minions and the Despicable Me movies, I enjoyed it enough to give it a recommendation. There’s a chance it may depend on your personal feelings about the Minions but it does it’s job right.



Minions (2015)
TreyVore rates it: B-

What's the next Illumination film Belchic ?