Content Creator Mk II

 So, I've been feeling the itch to get back to writing. A heckin' busy schedule and a slow as all get out netbook had been hindering me for some time.  While the schedule is still somewhat absurd, I am finding windows here and there.  This has been helped by the fact that the aforementioned netbook died, forcing me to upgrade.  I have also been making an effort to pull back at work, so as not to burn myself out mentally and physically.  

Now, this won't be like the last time around.  The jobs stay put.  This is going to be more of a "Buzz Beer" situation as opposed to trying to go the "self employed content creator" route again.  So, for all intents and purposes, I will be working three jobs as far as I'm concerned.

While content will be more consistent on both sites going forward, the plan is to ultimately move into fiction. I talked about it back when the Patreon was up and, while the means are different, the end goal does remain the same.  I do still like the idea of monthly novellas.  Short stories and full-on novels are also possibilities, but the novella seems like it would strike the right balance for me.

So, how does this little endeavor finance itself?  Well, from where I sit, there are four main sources of revenue.

1. E-Poll

Not a huge money maker, but every little bit counts.

2. Swagbucks

You know, it's funny, as much as I feature the referral link, I haven't really used the site that much. It didn't really get along with my old computer.  Now that my tech is more up to speed, I need to put this site to use to increase cash flow and boost my metrics even further.  I doubt it'll be big money, but again, every bit counts.

3. Reviewstream

This one is probably the best, as it is actually tied to writing.  Not only that, but I can throw the content on to either site. There is a pretty high payout threshold, so it'll take a while to get funds, but when they do come, the needle will move.  On the plus side, I don't need to come up with some outlandish number in terms of articles per day to ensure my bills get paid.  All that is already taken care of.  I can just work at a reasonable pace and still allow myself to put some focus on bigger projects

4. Dividends

This will really be the backbone of the operation.  It may not seem like it now, but as time goes on.  It's going to play a bigger and bigger role.

Wait, you're using side hustles to fund a side hustle?

Yes.  It's like seed money or startup capital.  

The Patreon...stays down.  It had its chance.  Truth be told, I think I put together a good system, but it didn't go anywhere after several years, so there's no sense in wasting time and energy with it.  I'm on a better path anyway.  Not only is this delivering much better results, but it suits me better.

I am toying with the idea of taking certain aspects of the campaign and applying them to the dividends, namely the quasi-basic income guarantee pledge (where at $1,200/month at least 10% goes to other creators to help build their income floor) and the charity milestone (where at least another 10% goes to charity).  Back when the Patreon was up, I had the latter milestone set at $4,000/month, but I am considering lowering it to $3,000.  Overhead isn't the concern that it was then and getting there sooner would be better.  We're still a ways away from that, but it is something to look forward to in the years to come.  Better yet, at that point, I'll be able to put E-Poll and Swagbucks points towards charities to bolster things even further.

One tricky thing, though, is that dividend payouts aren't even from month to month.  So, would I have to cross the threshold for all three quarter months before the perks get initiated or would I apply it to each quarter month as it hit?  The latter seems like the better way to go, but it is something that will have to be ironed out.  Again, I've got time on that one.

Could this phase out the current second job? Theoretically, it's a nice idea, but I don't want to get ahead of myself like I did the last time around.  I'm taking great care not to make the mistakes I made in the first go around.

I'm excited for this.  It'll be some time before you see anything substantial.  I still have brainstorming, drafting, and quite a bit of rust to shake off; but I think getting back into this will be good.  I think the setup is a lot better than the one I was trying to run on previously.  It's going to be interesting to see how things play out this time around.  I'm looking forward to it, though.  

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2019 Q1 Report

No joke, the first quarter of 2019 is over and done with.  It's pure madness.  As many other bloggers do, I thought I'd take the chance to look and see how I'm progressing through the goals that I set back at the beginning of the year.



General Content


While I was fired up at the beginning of the year, I did find myself falling back into old habits.  It may be anticlimactic, but I take comfort in the fact that I'm hardly the first person to fall victim to this.

Still, I did manage to knock both "The X-Files" and the first season of "Castle Rock" off the to do list.  The latter was just under the wire, but done is done; and I'm done...until season 2 hits.


Reading


I knocked two books off the list.  The first was "Elevation" and the second was "America the Edible" by Adam Richman.  I'm behind schedule, but my reading is up from last year; so that's a plus.  I'm also currently working my way through "Path of the Assassin" by Brad Thor so I am starting to get back into the groove, as it were.

I also read "The Infinity Gauntlet" knocking one item off of my graphic novel goal as well.



Savings and Dividend Challenges


The first quarter's finances were focused on the acquisition of a car.  As the down payment is often hefty, I wasn't able to make much in the way of stock purchases or transfers.

My forward income is about where it was at the start of the year.  I'm also a bit behind on the savings challenges.    Well, a bit behind on the online account.  My primary savings account took a hefty hit, so I have to re-do portions of last year's challenge and get back up to speed on this year's. 


Car

Speaking of, I did achieve this goal! I'll go into more detail in tomorrow's post, but it's nice to get that out of the way.  I do have some new bills each month, but with the down payment out of the way, I was able to re-set my weekly transfers to my brokerage and online checking accounts, so we should be getting back on track in the months to come.



Side Hustle


Thus far, I've made $12 in side hustle.  Given how Apptrailers and Epoll work, this is about where I expected it to be at this point.  As noted in the docket, Reviewstream is going to by the make or break factor in achieving this goal.  Until I can shift my attention to that, the number won't be that impressive.



Swagbucks


I have put some points into charities, but I definitely need to do more.  I didn't have a specific goal on this one, so whether I'm ahead or behind schedule is hard to determine.  I just know that more needs to be done.


Retirement


The head start is done.  With my birthday having passed by earlier in March, the five year race to have three times my salary saved has begun.  I'm 2% of the way there so we'll see how things go.  Five years is a long time, but it is still kind of sad to no longer be in "head start" territory anymore.



Goal Revision

I had set a 3 year goal of creating dividend income that surpassed Spoony's Patreon income.  At the time, it was about $500 a month, but now it's down to $461.  That brings my forward income goal from $6000 to $5,532.  Granted, 6K is a rounder number, so I might still try to unofficially shoot for that, but as of now, the goal will drop to the latter number as that is really the crux of the goal.


Conclusion

It may not have been the year opener that I was hoping for, but I did manage to put some dents in the list.  Knocking one of the big ones off was certainly nice, but I am looking forward to focusing my attention to the smaller scale goals.















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2019 Docket and Goals

Happy New Year everyone!  It's that time where we try to lay down a plan for what's to come in the next 365 days.  As noted before, a lot of what was supposed to be done in 2018 wasn't.  As such, a good chunk of this year's docket is just carry over, but we'll go through it anyway just for the sake of record.


Stephen King


Back log

Hearts in Atlantis
Castle Rock Season 1
Sleeping Beauties
Strange Weather
The Outsider
On Writing
Secret Windows
The Plant
Dreamcatcher
Black House
Cell (movie)
Mr. Mercedes series
The Dark Tower movie


New additions

Castle Rock Season 2
It part 2
Elevation




Brad Thor

Backlog

Path of the Assassin
State of the Union
Blowback
Takedown


Netflix

Back Log

The Punisher Season 1
Daredevil Season 3
Jessica Jones Season 2

New Additions

Luke Cage Season 2
Iron Fist Season 2
The Punisher Season 2



Legends of Tomorrow


Back Log

Season 3


New additions

Season 4- Once again, I'll have to wait for this to hit Netflix in order to watch it, but the plan is to binge it when it does happen.  It may not be current, but I'm going to make a point of getting through it quickly this time around.



Anime

Back Log

Attack on Titan season 3
Rurouni Kenshin (?)


Archive restoration (?)

Reviewstream

Back Log

Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition rule books
JLA trade paperbacks


The dividend income reports will continue and I will also continue to post the latest episodes of "Let's Get it Right".



Oh, and I, of course, aim to finally finish "The X-Files".


Goals


Savings challenge

I neglected to mention it in the 2018 review, though I did bring it up on Twitter, but this year I completed two savings challenges.  The 52 week "dollar a week" challenge and the "penny a day" challenge.  These were two that I had started back in the day when I was still trying the whole "self employed content creator" thing.  With my new station, I was finally able to put those to an end.

This year I plan on keeping the momentum going by taking on the extension of the first challenge.  It turns out that some people push the weekly challenge to two years.  Rather than stopping at 52, they just keep going, putting aside $53, then $54, then $55 and so on.  For all intents and purposes, I'm doing this challenge twice, as the plan is to move the slated amounts to my primary savings account, as well as the online savings account.


Bring dividend forward income to $400

Right now, my forward income sits at about $70.  I wanted to find a number that was feasible, but still somewhat challenging.  With purchases and DRIP, I think that this meets that criteria.  If I break it before, that's awesome, but right now, that's where I'm setting the goal post.


Max out IRA contribution

When I first opened the IRA, I mentioned that the odds of me doing this were slim.  Truth be told, that's still the case.  This is more of a mental thing.  I figure, if I set my sight on that, it will push me to get as close as I possibly can. Even if I don't hit the goal, I think having this mindset will still be beneficial in the long run.



$300 in Side Hustle

This is something that I haven't really talked about, but I want to add it to the itinerary anyway.  Right now, my main side hustles are Apptrailers, Epoll, and Reviewstream (there's also the Patreon, ad revenue, and the Amazon affiliate links, but they haven't really brought in income so they're side hustles in name only....SHINO.)  Epoll will bring about $60 at best.  App trailers is nice, but if I'm going to pull this off, Reviewstream will have to be a factor.  This should be a motivator for me to write more and make sure I cross that threshold.  Again, I think that this is a goal that's feasible, but will still present something of a challenge.


Car


As of now, I am without vehicle.  It's something I am aiming to remedy.  I've given serious consideration to getting a bike, which is odd as I've only ridden once since elementary school.  It's cheaper, better for the planet, and everything is fairly close by here.  It makes a lot more sense now than it did when I was living in Maryland or Kansas, but I figure I'd still need to get a car at some point.  I'm not looking forward to adding two more monthly expenses to my cash outflow, but if I can knock the car payment out quickly enough, it might not be that bad.


Walk the Year Charity Miles Challenge

I'm a big fan of the Charity Miles app.  I plug it frequently and was even going on daily 4 mile walks for a while.  I haven't been doing a good job as of late and I'm hoping that this will get me back on the horse.

Fun fact, we're one day in and, because I didn't walk today, I'm already behind schedule.  Auspicious.


Read 26 books

I noted before that I got no reading done.  I really want to amend for that this year.  I know that 52 books is the average, but I figure that starting small will work out better.  There's another reason I only have this many books coming into play, the next goal.


Read 26 graphic novels/trade paperbacks

I've been trying to get back into comics lately.  Rather than go back to the individual issues, I want to shift my collection to trades so that I can show them off on a bookshelf.  Rather than argue about whether these count as books, I'm putting them in their own separate category so that I can get the best of both worlds.


Swagbucks

I had heard that this was a great side hustle, but it hasn't really panned out for me.  The site brings my computer to a crawl (my laptop is a little on the old side,) which means I only log in when I have to.  As that hasn't worked, I want to try to put it to use in order to up my philanthropic game.  You can donate points to different causes and organizations.  Since I have the account anyway, I figure this will at least put the account to better use than it has up until now.  As the point cost isn't as high as the other rewards, I'll be able to "cash in" more frequently.



3 year goal

Oh, we're going beyond just the year.  I want to try to think in the long term, and as such I've got some goals that go beyond.

For this one, I want to bring my forward income to $6,000 a year.  This will bring my dividend income to Spoony's Patreon income level. It's important that I hit this goal as soon as feasibly possible.   I have my reasons.

It sounds lofty, but I'd like to think that I can pull this one off.





5 year goals


House

I've only ever been a renter, but the idea of being a homeowner has really grown on me.  That down payment scares the crap out of me, but I figure with enough prep time, I can take it.


3x Salary Saved for Retirement

Back in January, MarketWatch posted an article stating that, by the age of 35, you should have twice your annual income tucked away for retirement. Millenials....did not take kindly to this information.  While it was mathematically impossible for me to hit this goal after discovering it, I did resolve to hit the next marker, which is having 3 times your annual income tucked away by 40.

Funny thing is, I'm quite confident that I can pull this off.  Technically, I am still behind, but I have been viewing these past few months as a "head start".  I'm maxing out the 401k and pumping money into the IRA, both of which will generate increasing amounts of income as time goes on.  Add to that the fact that my birthday is in March and that gives me three more months before the 5 year challenge technically even starts.

Now, you might be asking where the stock portfolio fits.  It does and doesn't come into play as far as my retirement is concerned.  The dividends are designed to help finance and carry me through my golden years, but I'm not counting the portfolio into the overall total.  I could use market value, but that's way too fickle a beast.  As such, I'm viewing it as its own thing that is only tangential to the overall goal.


I'll admit that this is a lot, but I'm confident and fired up.  2019 is going to be huge.  2018 had its perks, but this is where I push myself to my limit, and then break past it.

Site Update: 2018 Docket

It's a new year, which means that, like last year, it's time to lay out the itinerary for what's to come.  Oh man, remember me saying that I would have a new post up every day of the year? Ha, I wasn't even close.  I won't be making that promise this year, though I would like to attempt it (and maybe even succeed) at some point down the line, maybe 2020?  We'll see.  At the very least, I would like to try and at least surpass the content bar that I set in the previous year.  Will I follow through?  That remains to be seen, as of now, though.  These are the things that I plan on covering in the next 365 days.


Stephen King

As of the writing of this post, I am working my way through "Hearts in Atlantis".  I also still have to discuss Stephen King's recent collaboration with his son, Owen, "Sleeping Beauties".  Speaking of Stephen King's sons, Joe Hill released a collection of novellas, "Strange Weather" that bears examination, so look forward to that.  Papa King also has a new book coming out called "The Outsiders" later on in the year. 

Progressing through the bibliography, I'm hoping to cover "On Writing", "Secret Windows", "The Plant", "Dreamcatcher", and "Black House".

On the movie front, "Cell" still sits in my Netflix queue.  I also have the first part of "It" as well as "The Dark Tower" to watch and review.  I recently read that the latter might also have a TV series attached, so hopefully that comes to light. 

I still need to watch "Mr. Mercedes".  Hopefully, that hits Netflix, Hulu, or DVD at some point in the near future.  If there is a second season, it will likely be delayed like its predecessor.  It's a shame that they aren't making it more widely available.

Speaking of Hulu, "Castle Rock" is slated to land in the next year.  I haven't followed the development too closely, but that should be an interesting watch. 




Brad Thor


I recently added another author to the site's content review roster.  I dove into Brad Thor's library with his debut, "Lions of Lucerne".  It should come as no surprise, then, that I aim to continue to progress onward through his library as well. 

Following "Lions", we have "Path of the Assassin", "State of the Union", "Blowback", and "Takedown". 

Thor is releasing a new book, "Spymaster" in the summer, but I will likely wait until I hit that point in the chronology before reading it.  I should (hopefully anyway) be up to speed by the time his 2019 book comes out, so it's a minor setback in the grand scheme of things.


Netflix


Continuing the tradition, my write ups for Marvel's "The Punisher" have succumbed to schedule slip.  Naturally, I will try to finish it as soon as possible, though.  Also in the MCU realm, the third season of "Daredevil is set to land, as is the second season of "Jessica Jones". 

Yes, much like "Daredevil", the write ups for that show will start with season 2.  On the plus side, all 4 defenders will be represented in the label list, so that will be good; especially if "The Defenders" does end up getting a second season. 




Anime


"Dragon Ball Super" continues.  I've been doing a decent job of keeping up with it and that won't be stopping any time soon.

The third season of "Attack on Titan" is set to air in the middle of this year.  I was hoping to cover the second season as it aired, but the schedule didn't permit it.  As I'm all caught up now, it should be a lot easier this time around.

I'd also like to dive back into "Rurouni Kenshin".  Alas, I'll likely have to start over.  Not only do I not remember what was happening, but there were a lot of articles lost in the Examiner shut down that I will have to re-do in order to keep everything complete.  It'll be a pain to go through, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.  It'll also eventually give me something to write about consistently to help fill in the gaps.

I could potentially add another series to the roster, though I'd have to browse around a bit.  I said that I would do this last year and nothing came of it, so I'd understand if you're skeptical, but hope springs eternal, right? 



Legends of Tomorrow


I discussed this in one of my Patreon updates, but I might as well say again that I have been unable to keep up with the CW shows as of late due to changing circumstances.  As such, I will be waiting for this year's batch of episodes to hit Netflix.  When that day does come, I will continue my write ups on that show.  It's a bit of a pain, but we do what we can with what we have. 



Archive Restoration


As it is, the site's backlog is mostly full of dead links.  I'm hoping to begin remedying that in the months to come.  It does mean doing a lot of work that was already done, but there it is.  I started doing re-writes for "Death Note", and you can see the articles for the first half of the show in my "mega-post", though I still have quite a bit to go through. 

The backlog covers all manner of things: movies, comics, anime.  It should give me a good variety.  I do try to put more emphasis on new content, but I think filling in the archive will be good overall.  Doing this will also facilitate more new content like episodes of "Rurouni Kenshin" that went unwatched and diving back into the "Dark Tower" comics.




Reviewstream

Normally, I've shied away from going into too much detail on upcoming content for this particular site as it was always more spur of the moment.  I'd see a movie and decide to write a review for it.  Some times, I saw a movie that I thought I would review, but found that it didn't give me a whole lot on which to comment.  It makes it difficult to lay down a projected list of what's to come.

This time around, though, I'm taking a different approach and have come up with some things that I plan on writing about. 

You might recall that I had written reviews for the first two JLA trade paperback collections.  My original intent was to go through the whole run, but it got pushed to the back burner.  While I won't go so far as to say that I'll finish, I do want to cover what I can and at least knock a few more trades out.

I'm also diving into the fifth edition of "Dungeons and Dragons".  I had written some articles on the "Essentials" material, but talking about the newer and more relevant content will be beneficial.  I did rather enjoy doing those articles, so it should be a good bit of fun.  I am kind of curious to look at the newest edition in more detail. 




So, there you go.  That's the 2018 plan.  It's definitely more in depth than last year's, but I think that's a good thing.  Oddly enough, I also think that this is more doable than the "post every day of the year" idea I threw out before.  We'll see how things go though.  Maybe on December 31, I can start doing retrospectives that assess what I thought I was going to do and what I did do.  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. 






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'Thor: The Dark World' Movie Review

You can read my review of the film here.

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'Man of Steel' Movie Review

You can read my review of the film here.

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'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' Movie Review

You can read my review of the film here.

Pros


- While grimmer than most "Star Wars" entries, this one manages to make good with the entertainment, providing impressive action and a healthy dose of humor throughout.

- K2SO

- The movie gives us more shades of grey as the rebellion isn't quite the idealistic movement that it is in the succeeding movies.



Cons


- Having grown up playing the "Dark Forces" games, I was hoping to see Kyle Katarn either make an appearance or at least get name dropped.  Neither happens.


- Needed more Forest Whitaker

- Jyn's turn from uninterested cynic to idealistic champion is a bit too quick.



Overall


This wasn't a story that needed to be told, but the telling still makes for solid entertainment.  It manages to be self contained, but provide just enough fan service via established character cameos to satisfy fans and cement this movie's role in the overall narrative.  Even the fact that a lot of it was a foregone conclusion doesn't become the detriment that you'd think it would.

Given the amount of hype behind this one, there might be some degree of disappointment, but all in all, I thought it was a very good movie that's worth a purchase.


















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'Yoga Hosers' movie review

You can read my review of the film here.

Pros


- The movie does hearken back to Kevin Smith's earlier work in many respects.

- Harley-Quinn Smith and Lily-Rose Depp play off each other well.  It makes for a great comedy dynamic, but also sells the idea that the two are close friends.


Cons


- Exaggerated Canadian accents and repeated use of the "social media profile introduction" become grating after a while.

- The silly tone undercuts any sense of tension.  Fine for comedy, but a detriment to the "horror" aspect of a film billed as a "horror comedy"


Overall


This movie is silly and stupid.  That said, I still found it entertaining.  The jokes rely on goofiness and puns, but it worked for me.  The movie knows what it is and never tries to pretend otherwise.  This isn't a movie for everybody, but there is a niche viewership who will likely get a kick out of this.















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'Doctor Strange' (2016 Movie) Review

You can read my review here.

Pro

- Strong cast

- Great balance of action, drama, and humor

- Does a great job of expanding the scope of the marvel cinematic universe

-Great visual effects



Cons


- While well done, it does fall into a lot of the "origin story" traps

- Does further cut the wind from Thanos' sails by establishing even bigger threats


Overall


After so many superhero movies, it's not surprising that they start to feel somewhat similar.  This is especially true when it comes to origin stories.  Still, this movie provides a solid foundation by giving us well developed characters who all have their own individual motivations and story arcs.  There are similarities to "Iron Man" but it does enough to stand on its own.







                                  

















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Dungeons and Dragons Essentials Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Wilderness review

You can read my review here.

Pros

- Low price tag

- Provides dungeon masters a fast, easy way to lay out the surrounding terrain without having to worry about artistic ability

- The smaller pieces for camp fires, ruins, carts, and rocks can be used multiple times without drawing suspicion from the players




Cons

- Surprisingly few open terrain tiles

- Some of the tiles can get repetitive due to limited "wilderness" options


Overall

The kit does a solid job of giving dungeon masters what they want.  Some more variety would have been nice, or at least more large and open tiles, but DM's could certainly benefit from picking this up.  Admittedly, if the campaign is going to go the distance, you'll need more than just this one box set, but it's a decent start.























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'Guillermo Del Toro Cabinet of Curiosities' book review

You can read my review here.

Pros


- Packs in a lot of content including interviews, photos, sketches, interviews, and ruminations by celebrities

- The section devoted to touring his house was fascinating and awe inspiring

- Easier for newbies than the similarly structured "Hyrule Historia"


Cons

- As Del Toro's notes are in a foreign language, the publishers had to annotate translations, which breaks the flow for readers.



Overall

If you're a fan of Guillermo Del Toro's, a geek in general, or an aspiring film maker; this is definitely worth a purchase.  The immense amount of content makes for a great value and the deluxe, high quality hardcover makes this a fantastic addition to your bookshelf.















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'Evil Dead' (2013) movie review

You can read my review of the film here.

Pros

- Stronger pretense for the characters being at the cabin that gives them a reason to stay and ignore warnings.

- Call backs to the original movie are well done and done just frequently enough to pay homage without relying on them too heavily to get viewers through the movie.

- Handful of creepy or emotional moments peppered throughout the film


Cons


- Most of the movie is just torture porn

- Characters are largely flat.

- The cause of the spirits being reawakened is head desk levels of stupid



Overall


I can understand the rationale behind wanting to remake a low budget horror movie with a bigger budget.  Sadly, said budget increase led to an inverse relationship in regards to the movie's charm.  There's little to like here and I wouldn't recommend it.  Stick with the originals.




















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'Dungeons and Dragons Player's Option: Heroes of Shadow' review

You can read my review here.

Pros

- Manages to pack in a wide variety of content into a rather average sized book.  There are full class builds, added features for other classes, feats, and other bits of information that can help flesh out a character or campaign

- The assassin is the standout class, with some cool abilities and an array of poisons that the player could put to use in a variety of ways.

Cons

- While the book does try to straddle the fence and be compatible with standard 4E and Essentials books, it does lean more heavily towards the prior.  

- Assassin is unable to share poisons with the ranger.  Yeah, the assassin can use a shortbow, allowing for poison arrows, but you'd think this would be a great way to boost the ranger, a class that seems to be struggling to stay relevant.

Overall

If you already have a few D&D books in your collection, this is a great boost.  If you're a new player looking to get into the game, I'd say either of the Essentials player's books or the initial 4E player's handbook would be more to your liking.

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'My Little Pony: Equestria Girls' movie review

You can read my review of the film here.

Generally, this area is dedicated to a sort of "Cliff's Notes" of the review, listing some brief pros and cons and giving a vague overview of what I thought.  With this, though, I think mileage is going to vary across the board.

Twilight is brought back to her roots, as the movie hinges on her learning how to make friends.  You might like the back to basics approach, or you might view it as a step backward for her.

The plot being a weird backdoor pilot for a nigh identical spin-off franchise may bother some, but it does make for a nice self-contained story that doesn't require you to have seen the show to enjoy.  Then again, people who haven't seen the show likely won't understand what's happening anyway, so again, it's a double edged sword.

All in all, the movie is OK.  It has some good humor, but it doesn't hit quite the same heights as the show does.















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'Shutter Island' movie review

You can read my review of the film here.

Pros

- Strong cast

- Intriguing premise


Cons

- Script really telegraphs a major aspect of the twist.  Even though there's more to it, it takes you out of the movie and gives the viewer the impression that their time is being wasted.


Overall

Decent movie that's worth a rental.





















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'Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition Starter Set' review

You can read my review here.

Pros

- Very easy on the wallet

- Set comes with an adventure, five pre-made characters, and a set of dice; making "pick up and play" very easy.

- Everything is condensed into one set


Cons


- No maps

- With the intent being new player friendly, the system seems more convoluted than it needs to be.  Especially coming on the heels of the much more straight forward "Essentials" system.

- Provided classes are basic, which is good for newbies but can also be seen as underwhelming.



Overall


This is a mixed bag.  For people who are curious about the game, this gives you a good way to test the water.  It's also designed so that players can get right to the game.  The system isn't the best in my opinion, but that's subjective and it still has useful material.  I don't know if I'd run a game in this edition, but I'd still play it.










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'Sharknado: The 4th Awakens' movie review

You can read my review here.

Pros


- This movie is silly...very silly.

- Formula is changed up by different kinds of "nados", adding some variety to the film.

- Gets right to the point, with the sharknado striking within minutes of the movie's start.


Cons


- A little too heavy on movie quotes and pop culture references

- Little to no consistency in even basic aspects of the movie's already ridiculous narrative.

- Gets perhaps a bit too silly



Overall

This is probably the most over the top entry in the series, which is a strength and a weakness.  It's quite ridiculous, and you'll have some laughs, but it doesn't quite reach the success of the first or third entries.






                                      












                                       








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'Taken 2' movie review

You can read my review of the film here.

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'Zombeavers' movie review

You can read my review here.

Pros

- Really cute dog

- Intentionally bad "monster" effects for the beavers

-  Clever writing peppered throughout, albeit way too sparsely

Cons

- Obnoxious characters with little to no personality or redeeming qualities

- Way too much dead space with no entertaining elements to speak of.  With a run time of only an hour and twenty minutes, it still feels slow and can be a chore to sit through at points.

Overall

This should have been an easy, enjoyably stupid movie to sit through.  Instead, I was bored for a significant chunk of it.  There isn't enough humor or horror to make this horror comedy worth sitting through.




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Batman: Assault on Arkham

You can read my review here.

Pros

- Hearing Kevin Conroy and CCH Pounder reprise their roles as Batman and Amanda Waller, respectively

- Has nice balance of action and humor

- Engaging plot with enough twists to keep it from becoming formulaic and predictable.

- Showcases lesser known characters

- Joker makes for a great villain and is well portrayed here.

Cons

- This isn't a Batman movie. He's in it, but he's a supporting character. Knowing this ahead of time, you'll likely enjoy the movie; just know what you're getting.

- Some of the developments don't make a lot of sense if you think about it

- Pushes the PG-13 rating to its limits.  It's fine for older viewers, but this isn't one for the kids

Overall

This was a fun movie.  If you're not a fan of heist movies or not a fan of the Suicide Squad, than this won't be the movie for you.  If you're interested in them, or at least interested in learning about the characters and the general premise, this gives you a good introduction to the major players.

                                  






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