Kat Has a Guest Appearance with @TheJayRoy on New YouTube Show “Reality Rehab”

This spring I wrote a series of articles about Big Brother Canada.  My own personal experiment to see if I could elevate the discussion surrounding the social experiment that is the very popular long-running international series.  Now that the American version of the show is running I was contacted and asked to be a guest on a new YouTube show called Reality Rehab by Get Real LOL where I got to talk with BB17’s Jason Roy.

If you’re interested in hearing what it’s really like being on this kind of reality competition show, or just want some gossip about the current season, check it out.

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Review: American Ultra

Improbable as it may seem,  it’s not Jessie Eisenbergs’ transformation from anxiety-stricken stoner to peerless fighting machine that causes American Ultra to stumble. In fact, the choreography of the fight scenes make his activation as covert CIA agent all the more brutal and believable. Where the film falls down is that it succeeds where so many other have failed: it creates a stoner couple who are not only bearable, but actually extremely likeable. Unfortunately, past the midway mark the movie squanders that gift and limps to a total damp squib of a finale.

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Quick Reviews: ‘Shaun the Sheep’ and ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’

Shaun the Sheep / The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

I saw two movies this weekend! And I’m actually writing about them! Huzzah!

#### Shaun the Sheep

Would you like to have a delightful time at the movies? Then you should totally see _Shaun the Sheep_. In 90 minutes of beautifully stop-motion animation by Aardman –the folks behind _Wallace and Gromit_ (among other things)– Shaun the clever sheep leads a flock of sheep on an adventure to the big city. It’s funny, sweet, and emotional and despite having no dialogue manages to have a pretty menacing villain, a pretty great central story, and a delightful musical number in the middle.

Sure, it’s a kids movie, but it’s a great kids movie and you should totally see it.

#### The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Would you like to be bored at the movies? Really? Why would you want that? To each their own I suppose. In that case you should totally check out _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._, Guy Ritchie’s update of the 1960s TV show. It’s not outright bad but it’s all style and no substance. Shallow is the word and since the main characters never feel like they’re in any real danger it’s hard to get excited during otherwise fairly well executed action sequences.

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer don’t really have that much in the way of chemistry which is a problem too. Cavill in particular didn’t really work for me. Hos character is supposed to be cool as ice and aloof but many of his one-liners fell flat for me since he came off so detached. Hugh Grant is in it too but he’s famous enough that when he shows up in a seemingly innocuous role it’s easy to predict what’s going to happen next. His best one liner is spoiled in the damn trailer, and then at the end when they finally form U.N.C.L.E. he just says it and the screen goes black. It’s annoying because this movie really felt like it could have been a lot better but as is it’s just a sloppily handled bore.

Review: Galak-Z (PS4)

*Spelunky* has a lot to answer for. Ever since it single-handedly championed procedurally-generated levels back in its enhanced 2012 version, many other games have been lining up to try and emulate its perfect blend of slow progression and brutal punishments. 17-Bit’s *Galak-Z* is the latest to follow this trend, openly shifting from its initial open-world design in favour of a chaotic and frustration-filled set of tough challenges. And it so nearly gets it right.

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The Films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ranked, Ant-Man Edition

Marvel

It’s been a while since I made one of these lists! There have been two new Marvel films since [last time](https://awesomefriday.ca/2014/08/the-films-of-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-ranked-guardians-of-the-galaxy-edition/) so it’s time to see where they fit into the mix. I rewatched all the Marvel films in the lead up to _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ so the films are still pretty fresh in the mind.

While the movies here are ranked from worst to best, I’m also grouping them into three categories: The ok ones, the good ones, and the great ones. If you’re wondering why there’s no “bad” category it’s both because I still enjoy the “ok” ones and because I can still appreciate the bad ones for the development of characters, story, and themes that run through the entire MCU (even if they’re pretty thin at times). Also also, it’s an exercise in being less negative.

Anyway, let’s get on with this.

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