The End of 2016

Yes, my friends, as difficult as it might seem to believe, 2016 is almost over and most will agree it will not be missed. After all, between the war in Syria, Trump paving the way for president Camacho's reign of awesomeness, the British people deciding they want to live in the 19th century and the death of basically all celebrities this has been a terrible year. It is in these moments that I like to remember a movie that I would like to recommend as a motivational piece for times like these. It is called Perfect Sense, and you should be able to download it from the internet like all the other movies you are watching at home. Because, as bad as things might seem now, they can always get worse and, yes, I am really trying hard to boost your morale over here. What I'm getting at is that really when you think about it we could all be blind right now ... and deaf ... I know, right?! But seriously, as bad as things might seem from time to time, life must move forward, and it will find a way to do so, so here is my post to celebrate life as it has continued in 2016. Brace yourselves, the time has come for:

2016 Scullder's Awards

I know I've been rather quiet on my blog, but despite appearances, I assure you this year has been far FAR from boring. The travelling, movie-going, gaming and petrol heading has continued and here are my findings:

2016 Best Travel Location - The Amazonian Jungle

Ever been there? No? Go ... like ...now! There is life there like no other place I have seen. And I don't jkust mean the cute monkeys and jungle animals running around. The whole thing is just alive and it has so many layers and the trees move and the river flow changes almost every year (now you have a lake, 10 years from now it's gone and it's a forest)... it was really an incredible experience. Oh, yeah, and our accommodation was not too shabby either...

And since you're in the area, take the time to visit Peru, it is full of incredible places to visit such as Machu Pichu, but just so you know the food alone is worth it. 

Batman + Superman = Love

OK, so it may struggle through a fair amount of mumbo-jumbo in the first and second acts, but BatmanVsSuperman is finally an action packed movie where Batman and Superman clash in a spectacular fashion ... which begs the question ... what the hell were all those disappointed people expecting? 

You have Batman who's kicking ass ... you have Superman who's saving the day ... they fight ... then fight some more ... explosions ... ass kicking ... Wonder Woman ... lasers ... explosions ... the end...

But what about the mumbo-jumbo? Well, there is indeed a problem there. The editing of the movie is ... bad ... very bad ... scenes are cut and jumbled together in a way that makes very little sense. In fact, it makes so little sense that this is one of the very few movies where it is recommended that you go in knowing a whole lot bunch of spoilers. Like the fact that Batman is having these dreams/nightmares and the creatures in his nightmares are linked to a super-villain in the DC universe which is referred to at the end of the movie. It will also help if you know in advance the overall story arc (just watching the trailers should make that pretty clear: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Doomsday).

So, I guess the question I should be answering is ... is this movie worth watching? If you have any kind of interest in Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman, the answer is definitely YES. Even Batman alone makes this movie worth your time. You will cringe quite a bit throughout but the final act is a mega-nerdgasm that should not be missed. If you just want to see a good tense movie ... go watch 10 Cloverfield Lane instead.

Personal Item Missing (AGAIN!!!)

Dear all,

It seems one of you took part of my grenade from my desk without my permission! It is the exploding part, so please take it outside the company office within the next couple of seconds.

This is not the first time that one of my private items "goes missing" so I will also file a formal complaint with HR with regards to this incident.

Yours truly,
Dick

The Small Long

Just to be clear from the beginning, I think The Big Short should be taught to children in school. Yes, I know there is cursing and a few boobies in there, but if you're gonna learn about the nature of our society, you'd better become accustomed to hearing the F word being thrown around quite a bit. And you should definitely be prepared to see a few boobies.

Besides the clear educational value, the movie itself is pretty darn good as well. Ryan Gosling plays Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt plays Brat Pitt, and Steve Carell does an amazing impression of Steve Carell. Oh, yeah ... and then there's Christian Bale, who should definitely get an Oscar for his interpretation of Christian Bale. There are also a few other actors in there you've never heard of before ... which is strange, since their acting is definitely top notch.

Then there's the way a movie about Subprimes and CDOs and synthetical CDOs and CSDs and all that wall street crap goes about explaining to you what all that nonsense is. Let's just say that while learning about them you get to see the hot blonde chick from all those recent movies in a bathtub drinking champagne and Selena Gomez playing black-jack. Remember what I said? EDUCATION ... it works ...

Scullder's Awars - Best 2015

My friends, the time has come yet again, after a very long absence to behold this wonderful happening that defeats the imagination of your wildest dreams! Yes. you have guessed it, it's time for:

Scullder's Awars - 2015

2015 was a great year for me ... a really great year ... though it started in pure chaos, with the batcave and all. There was in fact such a big difference between how 2015 started and how it ended that I decided to give my first two awards as follows:

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - Most Chaotic Month ... EVER
January 2015

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - A proper Chill Xmas
December 2015

And now ... for the actual awards... Let's get kickin' with:

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - The Best
Luigi

Say hello to Luigi! Our new friend and guardian, he is just ... well ... The Best! He has become the center of our universe halfway through 2015 and has been ruling our existence with a velvet fist ever since. He is a kind and gentle ruler and allows us to sleep all the way up to 6:30 AM every day... Thank you, merciful Luigi!

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - Best Trip
Madeira

From what I've heard before going, Madeira was supposed to be this place where old people who've had about enough of life go to watch the sea or something ... I can happily report that this is quite far from the truth. Not only are there tons of cool young people all around the place, there's a ton of different things to do. The food was incredibly yummy, the poncha delicious (and crazy cheap) and the scenery breathtaking.

I know ... there's not enough Luigi and a bit too much Madeira in the photo...

And so we get to:

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - Most Terrifying Trip
Madeira by Boat

Luigi tried his best, but the waves were just too much for Colombo's ship to handle. A three hour trip by boat around the south side of the island was enough to make us dizzy for the rest of the day ... at some point later in the evening the poncha kicked in and solved everything... which brings us to...

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - Best Natural Juice
Poncha HHRRREJJional

It is delicious, and in case you don't know what this poncha I keep mentioning looks like, here is a photo:

No minors, either human or not, have consumed alcohhool in order to produce this photo.

And something else happened in 2015... we finally got a 4th Star Wars movie ... I know, there's allegedly 7 of them, but let's be honest, the prequels were a complete disaster we can forget about. I can only thank lord Disney for rescuing us from more of that... So, yes, here it is:

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - Best Movie
Star Wars, the new one

There's so much fan pleasing material in there I don't even know where to start, so I will not. I'll just say that it is a wonderful film that revisits all the old things I loved while adding new things that I absolutely love. I cannot wait to see where they take it next.

I saw it only twice ... a problem I need to tend to as soon as possible. The IMAX 3D is definitely worth a look.

And one more thing ... you know comic book movies are all the rage these days ... which is why I want to give a special award to the best comic book ... kinda movie thing ...

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - Best Comic Book

...Almost Movie Thing ...

Netfilx' Daredevil

It's hard to estimate just how much better Daredevil is than ... say ... Avengers Age of Ultron, but I decided to still try. And according to my calculations, it is around 1 trillion time better ... give or take a few millions. If you have any kind of interest for comic books, this is THE show to watch. (Not to be confused with Netflix' Jessica Jones, which I did not particularly enjoy)

So yeah, everything was actually pretty great last year ... except maybe Specter ... that movie sucked bad... so here goes our last award:

Scullder's Awars - 2015 - One of the very few things that actually sucked this year
Spectre

And that's that! Boom, awards! See you next year!