REVIEW: “Fuller House”

Howdy!

I did not plan on doing two TV shows reviews back-to-back, I kind of figured I would slow down once I finished Sabrina, but by the time I got to the end of that one, I was already halfway through season three of Fuller House.

At the end of 2017, I actually decided to give this show a chance, like most people, I was on the fence about reboots of old shows from your childhood. Full House was a big thing for my sister and I back in the day, I remember coming home from school and instead of immediately working on homework, our mom would make us a plate of chips for a snack and let us watch both Full House and Family Matters on the family TV. Since I was older, I think I remember more of the plot and characters, so even though I hesitanted about this new series, I was really about it too.

Backstory

For this show, we have Candace Cameron Bure’s character “D.J.” moving back into her childhood home after the death of her husband, Tommy Fuller. D.J. has three sons: Jackson, Max and Tommy Jr. When the show actually starts, Jackson is 13, Max is 8, and Tommy is still a baby. After her father, Danny, gets a new job in Los Angeles, her middle sister Stephanie and best friend Kimmy Gibbler and her daughter Ramona move into the house to help her raise the family, like Jesse and Joey did when she was a young girl.

Just because this is a totally new show, it doesn’t mean we lose our beloved characters of the original. Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, John Stamos, Lori Laughlin, & even Blake and Dylan Tumoy-Wihoit are recurring stars to come and go throughout the series. We are allowed to see what all happened after the first show ended, and I’m really happy that they added them back on, but I also like the fact that it’s not always about them. The show covers some of the same topics like in the original. There’s still a lot of talks and hugs in the family, they get a dog: named Cosmo, there’s lots of music, and new and old flames in the mix. It’s really about the next generations living in that iconic San Francisco house.

Characters

I have always loved Stephanie, so the fact that the middle child: Max would be the one to hook me is great. He is definitely my favorite. He is portrayed to act like his grandpa Danny, in the fact that he likes to wear vests and be a total gentleman, with a strong urge to clean everything in sight! However, he does act like his mom as he likes to be perfect and has a great catchphrase: HOLY CHALUPAS! Don’t be surprise if I start using that on a daily basis!

Jackson and Max are clearly opposites in every direction, but I like the fact that they seem to get more along compared to D.J. and Stephanie did when they were younger, but we girls just seem to be a little too dramatic at times. And then, you have little Tommy. One bad thing about the seasons being shorter is that we don’t get the lengthy differences with each age. When the character Michelle was on there, we got to see a baby that wasn’t even a year old yet grow into a young kid going to elementary school. I feel since there’s such a large gab in between, we don’t get to see a lot of the developments of this character. Even though he’s such a minor character, he does steal the show whenever he’s around the family dog Cosmo and hanging out with his brothers.

Now Ramona is different in comparisons to all of the female characters of Full House. She’s the modern, technology driven daughter of Kimmy Gibbler and her ex-husband, Fernado (and no, I will not spell out his entire name on here!) and she is the relativity same age as Jackson, but I see her more like an older sister, keeping an eye out for all of the boys. Considering both of her parents are really nutty, she’s like the polar opposite of them and that’s actually really refreshing to me. She still has to deal with the same old school worries like making friends and smart choices for herself, but to know she has a great family to fall back on keeps her grateful.

Overall

My point of view has changed drastically since I first tried to watch it in 2017, so I am happy I gave it another chance. This show was really good to binge watch at night, but you have to be careful because you will laugh your butt off at the crazy antics of these characters. And it’s not all Kimmy either!

I’ll admit though, there were some themes that I felt were pushed a little bit too much. I didn’t like the fact that D.J. quickly went back into the dating scene, even their dad took two seasons to get back in the groove again. So when the story line was going back and forth between Matt and Steve, I thought that made D.J. look like a slut for having two relationships going at once. And sorry not sorry, I was always Team Matt. I thought her relationship with Steve was good like it was, just as friends. However, once I started season four, I did begin to see the light and thought, “okay, maybe I was too quick to judge.” I’d still like her to go back to Matt if it wasn’t too awkward because I definitely don’t like him with you-know-who.

So, have you watched Full House yet? What’s keeping you away, what are some of your fears of the show? If you have watched it, what are your favorite characters, episodes and even season?

REVIEW: “Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina”

Howdy!

So, I took a big risk in the middle of December, I watched my second horror show on Netflix. Yes, second. The first was The Haunting Of Hill House back in September. I haven’t finished that yet and I have to say, that is a lot scarier compared the Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina but I’m willing to take the chance again!

I don’t know what really possessed me (no pun intended) to watch this, because I never watched the promos on YouTube beforehand because I figured it would be too much for me to take, but I was in the mood for something different and I just decided to check it out and by the end of the first episode, I knew I was hooked!

Backstory

We follow the half-human, half-witch Sabrina Spellman who splits her time between wanting to keep her mortal boyfriend Harvey Kinkle and her best friends Roz and Susie at Baxter High, and her family legacy of signing her name and life away becoming a full time witch and at the hands of the Dark Lord and no, we’re not talking about Voldemort, this is worse: the devil himself.  She’s divided between wanting to be there for her friends and living her life as a human but she’s been guided by her aunts: Zelda and Hilda, plus her cousin, whose on house arrest for trying to blow up the Vatican, Ambrose to fulfill her destiny of being a Spellman witch.

If you were a teen or young kid of the 90’s, the name Sabrina Spellman might be familiar to you. Melissa Joan Hart played the character on the show Sabrina The Teenage Witch – a lot of people have been very upset with the changes of this show to the remake. The biggest topic is the weirdest, the cat Salem. In this reboot, the black cat does not talk or we don’t hear him speak out loud to Sabrina like we did with the previous version. Honestly, I like Salem for what he is, he is Sabrina’s familiar or protector, so if he’s in animal form, he should be mute.

The other complaint I’ve seen a lot, especially after it was renewed for two more seasons, that a lot of people do not like the fact that it’s a lot darker than we remembered on the teen program. What really gets me is that, it’s a television show so it’s fictional but yet people are literally taking it so seriously, and that is just stupid! However, I feel like we rarely see the witches going bad. This is in a totally different direction, where they have Satan as the main “god” for these witches to worship. So, with that being said, it is going to be a little more out there because you’re talking about somebody that Christians are told to fear, and that is going to be a tad harder to overcome.

Overall

I just loved the show! I was thoroughly addicted to it for about a week. I would only watch during the day because I didn’t necessarily know what I would see on my screen in the dead of night. I’m pretty happy with that decision, especially seeing the sleep demon: Batibat. I was not ready for her, but then I actually kind of enjoyed her. My god, I’ve turned into my sister! Anyways, I think you should try it, you might like it too. Now all I have to do is wait until April for the next batch of 10 episodes to watch and I think I’m looking more forward to that than the final season of Game of Thrones! 

Have you watched Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina yet? What were thoughts about the differences between the older version to this reboot? 

6 Halloween Movies For Teens!

Howdy!

So, this post will generated for the teenagers in your life that want to explore the mysterious and possibly a little blood for this Halloween! There is not a cartoon movie on it, and I did that for a reason. No teen wants to watch a kiddie film, but I also didn’t want to go too far because despite the whole rating of PG-13, I know some parents will not approve really violent movies either, so I’m hoping I’ve picked out a well-balanced batch of films to satisfy their ever-maturing tastes!

Beetlejuice (1988)

In my last post, I talked about the fact that I was influenced by my sister and our friends to watch several of the films I had listed, but for this, all but the last two, I fell in love while watching them with my mom. Beetlejuice being the main boss, and even now if one of us see it on our guide, we’ll record it. However, I wasn’t a real fan of the character Beetlejuice, he used to scare the living daylights out of me! As an adult, I enjoy the dark tones throughout the movie. The abstract art (I know) and how much black Lydia wore in the film, but my ultimate favorite part is when Adam and Barbara go down into the underworld, I don’t know why I’ve always liked it but I do.

This is definitely not a kid-friendly movie as I remember watching it before I was the age of seven, and as I said, I was absolutely afraid of it. There are still scenes that make me uncomfortable, but for the most part I can get through it in one piece! It’s really funny, all of the characters are different and add an comical element to every scene. So, this is a good middle ground film for teens.

The Addams Family (1991)

Here’s an interesting tale for you, I actually remember watching the old black and white Addams Family episodes on TV Land years ago! I’m pretty sure I watched them with my papaw but I could be wrong too. Anyways, the films are very beloved between my parents and I, I’m not quite sure about Blondie as her tastes have always been in the adults section compared to mine, but she could still love it I guess! I think the first is the best, even though I do think the attempted killings of the baby brother in the second movie are pretty hilarious! For me, I just enjoy the weird brotherly bond between Gomez and Finister, and you should already know what I think about Gomez and his wife Morticia. She’s one of the fiercest women ever!

The Addams Family in many forms is usually very fun to watch, because you don’t want to believe that there are people out in the world like that, but in reality there are! They are also in many forms all around the continent, but the movies that came out in the 90’s are still interesting despite being close to 30 years old now! They’re fun movies and should be respected as such I think.

Casper (1995)

I have never met a person who doesn’t love the character Casper! If I was a ghost, lonely as can be, I’d probably do the same thing he did and force somebody to bring me a friend! I think the film in general is so good, and definitely a guilty pleasure for sure! There are scenes that are real serious but the majority of it is flat out hilarious! My favorite scene is when Casper cooks Kat breakfast, and basically scares her for the second time!

I know if a teenager is reading this post and wondering why I’d put this on here, is because it does still have some ominous elements featured, such as death, performing exorcisms, and the downside to the haunting of ghosts. It’s a nice medium of in between being a pure kid movie to a young adult, mostly because for the rowdy and slightly mean uncles: Stretch, Stinky and Fatso!

Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire (2005)

I really adore the Harry Potter films, but I had to really think of one that could fit this list, and the only one that has always made me feel uncomfortable is Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire mainly because of the games and how disturbing and serious the ending was when Voldemort’s physical form was shown and of course the death of Cedric Diggory.

There is a lot of graphic violence in every movie, but I always thought this was probably the worst because it was the first time where a beloved character was killed off in the story. I feel it would be too much for a young kid to watch that scene because it is pretty intense. I’m not saying the death of both Sirius Black and Dumbledore wasn’t that bad, I mean, they clearly were to everyone, but this was different. The whole tone of this film was darker and got you ready for what was to come later in the rest of the movies.

Twilight (2008)

Twilight came out before the premiere of The Vampire Diaries so it wasn’t even on my radar until about 2011, and I finally gave in and watched it for the first time because everybody around me, family included, kept driving me crazy about who I liked the most and when I didn’t have an answer to their question, they’d freak out! However, I’d get away with it once they found out I liked TVD, so that was my saving grace at the time! Anyways, I think the first movie and the final part of Breaking Dawn are my favorites! They both have different directors, so there are scenes that I think are perfect to set the tones apart.

Despite for the outside vampires: Laurent, Victoria and James it is actually really clean. You do have to keep in mind that it is about vampires and werewolves, so you know there will be lots of blood and graphic violence involved. The first film is the ideal teenager fantasy based, especially if your teen hasn’t watched anything like this before. I don’t recommend letting them watch part one of Breaking Dawn for the sex scenes featured in the story!

Dark Shadows (2012)

I watched this for the first time ever last Halloween! I decided that I was going to watch all of the spooky movies that appeared on Freeform that year, and this was the only one that I actually liked out of the four films! I really liked all of the female actors, they all had strong roles but my favorite was Michelle Pfeitter as Elizabeth Collins Stoddurd, she was intimating as hell, but then again I’ve always said that about Michelle! She scares me. Johnny Depp’s character Barnabas was creepy, but I thought he was a funny guy too. I’ve always had a tough time watching a Johnny Depp film, especially when he dresses up in full make up and basically transform into this other being that you can barely recognize him.

This is a perfect vampire based movie for teens that I could find, because it wasn’t too bloody but it still had those scary moments that (maybe not) everybody loves to watch during this time of the year! It was entertaining and kept my attention, even through the many, many commercials. I also know that the network probably took out the gory scenes, maybe that’s the reason why I enjoyed it so much! If you’re worried about that too, it might be better to have your teen watch it on that channel too.

I am not going to lie, but I am happy to be done with this section! It was pretty difficult to come up with films that I’ve watched more than once and that could be counted for teenagers! I was always afraid of paranormal things growing up and I can barely get through Ghost Adventures in one piece as an adult, so you can just imagine how I was years ago! Before I finish this, I want to add a couple of spooky television shows that your teen might like to watch if they’re not into movies: The Vampire Diaries, Shadowhunters, and Charmed. 

Do you have a favorite on the list above? How were you watching more mature scary movies or TV shows like these as a teen? Can you name any more that could fit the criteria?  

6 Halloween Movies For Kids!

Howdy!

Since I’m not able to decorate pumpkins this year, I had to come up with another Halloween-y post for you guys and I thought collecting a bunch of movies that you either have seen at different parts of your life or not at all. For this list, I decided to talk about what is kid-friendly, it might be movies you remember watching with your parents or at a sleepover with your cousins or friends growing up. I tried to board out my search of different movies and I really like the lineup I have so far, and I hope you enjoy them as well!

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The first time I ever watched this movie was in seventh grade, weirdly enough three days before we went on Christmas break. There are not very many movies that can pass being two holiday movie lists, but this is one! Unfortunately, I didn’t want to watch it and was very happy to be sitting in the back of the room. It wasn’t until about three years later that I finally watched it on my own and I actually kind of enjoyed it.

I think this is a good, fun movie for young kids to watch because they will love the characters, but be careful they do show the Bogeyman and other monsters in the closet and under the bed, so there’s that part to watch out for the younger kids!

Halloweentown (1998)

I love Halloweentown! However, like TNBC I did not want to watch this when it aired on the Disney Channel one October night at a friend’s house. I wasn’t the bravest of kids in my age as you can see, but my sister and her friend stayed up and watched it. You’re never going to believe this, but I actually fell asleep before it even started, so at one point of time, I could fall asleep on cue apparently!

So what changed? I think I was always haunted by the fact that I couldn’t watch it back then that once I got into high school I was like, “you have to suck it up” and it’s been one of my favorite Disney Channel franchises, and my favorite one being Halloweentown High. The last one isn’t really the best because they replace Kimberly J. Brown to Sara Paxton. Nonetheless, the films are good and they’re not really dark, some of the costumes are a little “scary” for some young kids, but other than that it’s a Disney so your child should (grow to) like it very much.

Alvin and The Chipmunks: Meet The Wolfman (2000)

When I decided that I wanted to write this post, this was actually the first movie that popped into my head. I remember watching this as a kid with my sister, who would have been in preschool at the time. We rarely watched Alvin and The Chipmunks and honestly I haven’t seen any of the sequals of the newer films, so the fact that this made the cut is interesting for me. I try to watch it whenever it’s on, even if I miss the majority of it!

If you’re looking for a cartoon-ish, Halloween movie for your children to watch, I’d definitely recommend this because this is generally adorable then spooky. If you didn’t love the Chipmunks, especially Theodore, you will after watching this film.

Mom’s Got A Date With A Vampire (2000)

This is another favorite of mine, that unlike the first two movies I talked about, this was easier to get into and maybe it was because Charles Shaughnessy was in it! You have to understand that when this came on, I was busy watching Full House, Mad About You, Family Matters, and The Nanny with my mother almost every other day with a bowl of potato chips for an afternoon snack when we came home from school! I don’t remember watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch so this is how I fell in love with Caroline Rhea for the first time.

You can find this on Disney Channel too! It likes to creep up on me sometimes, because there will be times where it’s easy to find but then they don’t play it at all and that part really sucks! It is a nice Halloween movie for kids, Charles is somewhat spooky but it’s mostly because of his accent and hair!

Twitches (2005)

I literally almost forgot about this one! It does help if you make sure you have the right amount of movies that it says on your banner before saying you’re done for the day! Anyways, Twitches is such a good movie, I’d say it’s a safe movie that discusses witches in general, but what I really enjoyed about it was seeing real twins Tia and Tamara Mowry play separated after birth sisters that are indeed witches. However, the real part I loved about it were Karsh and Ilena, they are absolutely hilarious and really bring the comic relief to this movie.

This movie has some dark tones in it, but I don’t think it’ll be that big of a deal for someone over the age of seven, but that’s only my opinion! I think kids will enjoy the fantasy and magic being shown between the characters, and will hopefully see through the character Thantos’s scary demeanor.

Hotel Transylvania (2012)

Are you surprised to see a recent release on my list? I actually had a hard time finding movies that I had seen that would work for this, and HT was the only one that fit the bill. I actually enjoyed this film, unfortunately I have yet to watch the other two and I do want to see them, because I really like the cast who are voicing these characters: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, and David Spade just to name a few.

This film is really nice, it’s not too scary for kids, it could actually help children understand to never to assume the worst out of people. I actually like this direction of the story of Count Dracula, they made the character slightly approachable whereas how they will probably learn of the real story of him, so right now this is family friendly enough right now!

So now we’re finished with the first list! I had lots of fun telling kind of embarrassing stories of my childhood on my blog again.. Oh, just wait until we get to the adult post, you’ll probably be laughing at me while reading it. I originally had seven on this, but I realized that I had two movies that I haven’t really seen a whole lot, so I figured it would be easier to talk about ones that I have watched and liked throughout the years instead. Before I go, I wanted to list a couple of TV shows for kids that have a sort of a spooky flare: Goosebumps, Are You Afraid Of The Dark? and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.

What are your thoughts of the movies above? Which one is your favorite?

 

Non-Disney | Hanna-Barbera

Howdy!

I’ve been wanting to write about this for a few months now, as I have been trying to generate new ideas for this specific series, Hanna-Barbera has been at the top of the list! The cartoons that came out of that production studio in the late 1960’s until sometime in the 1990’s, they merged with Warner Brothers, was at the heart of my mom’s childhood. Once Blondie and I were allowed to watch something else than besides Barney (shut up!) she basically showed us a number of animated shows she used to watch a child, and what’s funny is now that we’re much older, we still like watching a couple of those shows!

I had to look up all of the shows I’ve seen since I was about seven years old, and I literally counted up 11 different series! For this post though, I’m only discussing the ones that I currently watch on TV right now, and unfortunately Cartoon Network no longer shows the good stuff, but in light of that, there’s another channel specifically for the older animated shows like the ones below and some that came out in the early 2000’s that are over, and it’s called Boomerang!

Scooby-Doo

I absolutely love Scooby-Doo! I still get excited whenever I see the gang all over stores, on children’s clothing, food, watches. It’s nice to see that it is still alive and well for the newer generations. My mom used to tape the marathons on TV while we were at school, so when we came home, we’d sit in the living room, eating our snack on the floor while watching old school Scooby-Doo! I think she was happy that we were interested in something she loved as a young girl too.

My favorite series are the actual “Where Are You” series, honestly because I like the early 70’s getup, and fake laughing audience in the background. If you’re a true fan, you know Shaggy was a stoner and it wasn’t the name that gave you that realization; between the fact that he and Scooby were ALWAYS hungry but the way he was dressed, he was the definition of a 1970’s world peace, free love, weed loving, dude! Now Fred looked the part with mainly the bright orange scarf or whatever was around his neck, but you could never tell whether or not, he liked to smoke a few blunts too! You just wished that he’d come out and say that he and Daphne were a couple! For anyone who hasn’t watched the most recent remake of the show, apparently they’ve made Velma and Shaggy into a couple. How do you feel about that?

I also enjoy the movies, mostly the ones that came out in late 90’s and early 00’s, so like Scooby-Doo, and The Witch’s Ghost, Scooby-Doo, on Zombie Island and Scooby-Doo, and The Alien Invaders. There is one film that came out in 1988 called Scooby-Doo and The Ghoul School. It is about Shaggy, Scooby and his little (brave) nephew Scrappy-Doo become volleyball coaches at a spooky ghoul school full of young daughters of different and infamous characters, like Dracula, Werewolf, and a Mummy. I love it dearly, but I think my favorite feature about is the fact you can tell that it’s an old film, despite only coming out roughly 29 years ago!

Tom & Jerry

Tom & Jerry is another beloved show by my mother and I, we can still watch certain skits and laugh our butts off! Poor Blondie can’t watch it, and it’s not because she doesn’t have cable TV, it’s because our first cat Oliver, killed her first hamster literally a week after we came home from Florida in 2003.

Boomerang actually plays more Tom & Jerry than any of the other shows. The older series will air like two hours worth of the show in the middle of the afternoon and if you need a good chill out moment, it’s a nice show to kick back and watch for a while. One of the interesting things is that back in 1990, they did a remake but creating the main characters in their younger selves. What was even cuter though was they dressed Tom in overalls and stripped shirt with a little hat, while Jerry only had a medium sized red bow around his neck. They were so adorable, but I’ll be honest I don’t think we ever watched these episodes, because as I’ve been watching them now as an adult, my joy is genuine! What’s even better is that my little nephew Nolan enjoys watching it too.

The Smurfs

They’ve started playing an hour worth of The Smurfs in the mornings, so whenever my mom goes to work, I usually try to stay an hour afterwards to watch the episodes. They began airing the show I think at the beginning of August and either they’re only allowed to play a small selection or they never really created more than 10 episodes, because I’ve seen the same ones more than twice.

I have tried to watch the live-action movies, but I’ve never really been interested in them. They look the same and the adventures seem fun, and using Hank Azaria for the villain, Gargamel was brilliant! I do like the fact that they’re trying to get younger generations into the characters as well! The smurfs themselves are adorable, I love their names and how they all act around each other. I feel bad for Brainy everytime he tries to take center stage on certain things, the rest of the clan just throw him out.

The Flintstones

These last two are also new additions to the channel’s daily schedule. I was very happy to see that they were going to put The Flintstones back on the air, they were also another family favorite for my sister and I. We, like every other child, took the Flintstones vitamins before getting to school in the mornings, and everybody usually wanted a “Dino” or “Wilma” because they tasted the best and didn’t leave a chalky taste afterwards. I feel sort of to the kids that get to have the gummies now and don’t have to endure the grape-y taste of rock pieces throughout their mouth.  Oh, and I enjoy Cocoa Pebbles and milk in the mornings now as an adult…

Since both The Flintstones and The Jetsons are much older than the others on my list, my mom and her siblings, watched the original and a couple of the remakes, especially The Pebbles and Bam-Bam Show. This was the one time I remember watching the squeals and loving it just as the first one. I actually love watching the movies too! I feel like my favorite is The Flintstones (1994) when John Goodman played Fred Flintstone, which I thought was just perfect casting!

The Jetsons

Something that I thought was weird is that the creators at Hanna-Barbera productions obviously had a fascination with both the future and prehistoric times. Both The Flintstones and The Jetsons were aired in the same year so that has always made me giggle in a way because you have to think one is about having flying cars and robots, and cars made out of rocks, logs and animal skin and using dinosaurs to help you do the simplest of things!

I do love the show! And I have enjoyed the crossover episodes and movies. Everybody freaks out when the Arrowerse collides the week before they go on their Christmas break, but as a kid of the 80’s or 90’s, seeing these two shows mixing their realities was very cool!

I know Hanna-Barbera created a few more other shows, one of which was The Adventures Of Popeye and I do remember watching some of those specials but not as much as I would have put them on the list above. Honestly, we were encouraged by everyone in our families to check out something on television that was aired before our time, most of the time we had grown to enjoy them, but I actually took them pretty easily.

If you can think of any others that were made by HB throughout the 60’s to 80’s, let me know I’d like to know what you enjoyed as well.