Samurai Equine

  Hello there, my crowd! Welcome to my Weekly Musings: Red Edition. 

[I ❤ JAPAN] -- [I ❤ THE COLOR RED] -- [I ❤ CELESTIA]

   Feel free to leave a song request. Your song will eventually be featured in a future Weekly Musings entry!   

Things are about to get busy, my crowd...  Don't be surprised if I am less active in the days that come.

 The biggest news this week was the celebrating of one of my uncle's birthday!  While I am glad he enjoyed it, I think we all needed this. I worked hard on the main course, and my mother worked hard on everything else. There was some gift shopping. It was a little hectic, but I think we worked so hard that we didn't have time to feel anything bad. When we got together, we shared laughs had a truly good time. In this moment, it was easy to forget that my aunt is no longer with us. I'm going to do my best to make sure they keep feeling this holiday cheer and have little reason to feel sad.

 The days before the big birthday party, there was lots of shopping, most for Christmas presents. I did some, but I also helped my mother. We both had Friday off, so that gave us both some extra time to get it done. There was some frustrations, but we managed to get things done. Also, my computer desk chair broke. I am using a chair from the dinner table right now. It's okay, but it's not a long-term solution. I'll have to figure out what I want to do when Christmas is over. At least my back isn't killing me, though. 

 [ 1 / 2 ] And now... Christmas Movie Time!  Once more, I am on a mission to see every film adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" I can find; or at least which ones are available on free streaming platforms. So let's get into it as rapid fire as I can... “A Christmas Carol (1910)” This is not the first film adaptation of the classic Dickens tale, but considering how far back we're going, it might as well be. It's a silent film, and it's 10 minutes long. This isn't just a speedrun, it's telling the classic tale on hard mode! And somehow they managed to hit most of the major story beats, the only flaw is that they made the Ghost of Christmas Past & Present one spirit instead of two. Likewise, they could have used more dialogue cards. But none of that matters, because what they managed to throw in was impressive. You'd need to be familiar with the story before you see this, but it's still very impressive! “Scrooge (1935)” is a talkie, and while it does try to be very honorable to the source material, it does leave out some details (like the Surplus Population line, despite referencing it later). It does a good job of showing just how merciless Scrooge is and what made Belle fall out of love for Scrooge, at least.

 [ 2 / 2 ] “Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol (1949)” Sorry Vincent Price, no amount of beginning narration can fix this. It's about as shortened and streamlines as the Disney version with Mickey and friends. So much was cut that it made me wonder if America was (at one time) given an altered or condensed version of the book. However, it did combine Scrooge's redemption arc by having him celebrate with Bob and Fred at the same time, which I am sure some people probably wanted to see. “A Christmas Carol (2018)” is the strangest adaptation I've ever seen. Set in the modern era, it changes things that shouldn't, and keeps things from the book that shouldn't. It proves that America is not the only one who can make a bad adaptation, but at least here they showed how Marley's rotten attitude affected Scrooge. “A Frozen Christmas Carol (2018)” ...No. Screw this version. It's not even a movie. It's not a bargain-bin movie. It's not even a tech demo. It's an audio book placed on top of a bunch of Christmas screensavers. You can find better Christmas Carol movies posted illegal and in full on YouTube. If I wanted the book, I'd get the book. (IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A CREDITS ROLL!)

 Zenkaiger 39: In One Year, Out The Other!  Other than the last split-second of the episode, this was just more filler and more build-up to actual plot. And considering there is only about 10 episodes left (give or take), it makes sense that the plot will start picking up about now. They really dragged out the story, and I do hate to see that on an anniversary series. Perhaps the pandemics really have affected things far more than we know. Can't say that any Zenkaiger movies will be better than the series at this rate, but maybe they'll find a way to surprise me. Also, do you really need the Gokaiger Gears to swap weapons? This feels like the lamest use of gears yet.

 ReVice 06: Insert Evil Lawyer Joke Here.  I'm not really sure what to think of this episode. It looks like Ikki/Revi's brother is the new evil Rider, and he has the ability to imitate the look of others, including fellow Fenix agent Hiromi. Or maybe not; perhaps Daiji has somehow gained a demon partner of his own that looks like an identical twin. Daiji might not even be aware of him! However, all of that takes a back seat to a story about a corrupt lawyer and a corrupt judge. A story that ultimate goes nowhere. I can't even call this episode a waste, if they are building up to something in the next episode. But I can't even tell because the Next Episode preview is giving me no clues! Guess we'll find out the hard way.

 TOKUSATSU MOVE TIME!  ReVice The Move: I Wish I Was Deadman. ...Seriously, someone put me out of my misery until I'm 6 feet deep. Something that is less than the length of your average TV episode has no business calling itself a movie. Even old school Sentai and Rider movies did better than this. And I could forgive it if they actually had a story to tell, but they didn't. It was as bland and as boring as possible. Apparently this is a special that aired before the Saber + Zenkaiger movie, a teaser to hype you up for when ReVice would eventually air on TV. So unless these events hold bigger significance in that crossover movie, this movie is utterly pointless. They don't even try to introduce you to these characters or give you a reason to care. The whole thing stinks of being put together last-minute. Maybe if I had seen it when it first aired in theaters, I'd be stoked. After watching 6 episodes of the series? I wish I hadn't even bothered.

hat's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and can you hear the bells?

I don't care, I'm jumping ahead because I choose to! The official Sonic YouTube channels (both JP and US) are no strangers to posting original remixes with no album releases. However, this is the first in a series of remixes that they'll be releasing. It's classic, old school funk/classic rock! I never imagined this song in this style, but it works SO WELL! This is "Escape From The City - Funk RMX feat. Lyn", a remix composed by S.A.M.E (Dean DiMarzo & Jun Senoue).