Reviewing The Golden Raspberry Awards 2021

Razzie time has happened again, and just like last year's Golden Raspberry Awards I had to write a review piece on it. As 2020 was a infamously bad year, it only made sense that the films nominated were even worse than usual. Due to certain callings-out I had to make here, the editing process took longer than it would have done normally.

I'll also note that some of these films had particularly problematic topics that I will be ranting about at various points in this article, something that did not happen with my previous Razzie review. Trigger warnings include sex trafficking and botched portrayals of autism, so if you're the type who gets wound up over stuff like this, I don't blame you at all.

Worst Picture - Absolute Proof.

This is the category that filmmakers really want to stay clear of, as it pretty much serves as a damnation of your film in general. This year's "hopeful" nominees were the utterly tasteless 365 Days, the pro-Trump "documentary" Absolute Proof, Robert Downey Jr.'s mediocre take on the Doctor Dolittle mythos with Dolittle, the "dark and gritty" Fantasy Island reimagining and the cliché-ridden and insensitive "autism musical" Music.

I would have chosen 365 Days to be the "winner" of this category, due to not only its disgusting plot, but the immense amount of backlash surrounding its release on Netflix. The Razzie Committee themselves chose Absolute Proof, which makes it the second ever "documentary" film to win after the laughably bad Hilary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. It's quite likely that political views held by the Razzies and the recent controversy of the storming of the Capitol may have had an influence on its win over 365 Days, but it's still downright terrible. Like Hilary's America, it pretends to be a documentary but is more like extreme right-wing propaganda that capitalises on absurd conspiracies that likely never happened, such as Chinese cyberterrorists rigging the elections.

Yep, it's laughably bad alright, and the "mastermind" behind it Mike Linnell (best known as the "My Pillow Guy") made an absolute fool out of himself as a result by snagging this "prestigious" award. It's not a film you should watch if you want to watch an actual documentary, but it may be something to consider if you're the type of person who gets a laugh out of mocking bad movies.

Worst Director - Sia for Music.

A bad vision is often the cause of a bad movie and these directors should know. Both 365 Days directors Barbara Białowąs and Tomasz Mandes were nominated, along with Stephen Gaghan for Dolittle, singer Sia for her directorial debut Music and Ron Howard (in a surprise twist, considering that he has normally done much better) for Hillbilly Elegy. A certain Charles Band was also nominated for the three Barbie & Kendra movies (Corona Zombies, Barbie & Kendra Save the Tiger King and Barbie & Kendra Storm Area 51), which somehow managed to get made and released in the same year despite being based on events in the same year. Probably explains the trilogy's bad quality.

In this case, Sia's first film that she directed ultimately netted her her first Razzie. The whole film is yet another case of something trying to be Oscar bait and failing miserably - a recovering drug addict played by someone known for their good looks finds herself having to be the guardian of someone with autism (who is actually played by a neurotypical actor) and is "changed" by the experience. Of course, rather than it gaining Oscars, instead people rightfully tore into it for its stereotypical depiction of autism. I also remember seeing some of the music numbers and they did not really connect with me to say the least.

I'm now going to have to unleash some salt here. I already had issues with the way autism is normally depicted in the media, but I guess my autism diagnosis back in 2017 has made me even more weary of its depiction. Look, if you're going to make a film focusing on autism, do the proper research. Why are you casting your prized neurotypical dancer from your music videos as a legitimately autistic girl? Why are there restrainers being used? WHO DID YOU HIRE TO AID IN THE RESEARCH?! I get the feeling Sia hasn't had any close experience with autistic people herself, otherwise the film would have been slightly more accurate and slightly less offensive.

I'm sure that there are other singers that have gone into a directing career, but Sia was not a successful example, should we say. Maybe she should just stick to directing her normal music videos rather than a feature-length one - at least they mainly feature dancing rather than botched depictions of disabilities.

Worst Lead Actor - Mike "My Pillow Guy" Lindell as himself in Absolute Proof.

There was quite a solid list of terrible actors for this year's category. To my complete lack of surprise, Robert Downey Jr. was nominated for Dolittle in his role of Dr. John Dolittle, in what was basically another case of an American actor pretending to be British and failing big time. Other nominees were Mike Lindell (a.k.a. My Pillow Guy) as himself in Absolute Proof, Michele Morrone as Don Massimo Torricelli in 365 Days and David Spade as Tim Morris in The Wrong Missy. And then of course no Razzie ceremony would be complete without Adam Sandler being nominated, this time for his role as simple manchild (so basically every role he seems to play) Hubie Dubois in Hubie Halloween.

I'm honestly surprised that Lindell didn't get nominated for Worst Director along with the other guy who was helping him (maybe he should have replaced Ron Howard in the nominees list), but he did win this category. I doubt he really saw himself as "acting" in the film though, considering that he intended Absolute Proof to be a documentary. But as mentioned earlier, the whole thing comes across as fake anyway.

I would have probably chosen Michele Morrone, though mainly because of him playing a horrendous role that I cannot sympathise with and trying to defend his role in 365 Days. So in a way, I'm probably just letting my own views influence my choices as well. Either way, both of their roles come across as equally unpleasant. I also suspect that plenty of people were expected Downey Jr. to win due to being so ill-cast for his role, but at least it wasn't as insulting as the other two roles mentioned in this paragraph.

Worst Lead Actress - Kate Hudson as Kazu "Zu" Gamble in Music.

Quite a few leading ladies were on the chopping block this year. Whilst there was sadly no sign of Liu Yifei for her drippy and bland portrayal of the titular Mulan, they did have Anne Hathaway for her role as Elena McMahon in The Last Thing He Wanted and especially her role as the Grand High Witch in the new film adaptation of The Witches. Anjelica Huston she ain't. Katie Holmes was also nominated for two roles as Liza in Brahms: The Boys II and Miranda Wells in The Secret: Dare to Dream, and other unwitting nominees included Kate Hudson as Kazu "Zu" Gamble in Music, Lauren Lapkus as Missy in The Wrong Missy and Anna-Marie Sieklucka as Laura Biel in 365 Days.

It was quite surprising when Hudson ended up being deemed the worst actress of the bunch. After all, plenty of critics seemed to rate her performance and she even got nominated for a Golden Globe for it. Personally, I thought Hathaway was pretty pathetic in the new Witches film myself (there are more problems with that film, but I'll save that for another blog post). Even if she had a hairstyle that matched the book version more closely, rather than the blonde perm she had for some reason in this movie, her performance would still not match up with the spectacular performance Huston gave in the same role in the first film adaptation.

I have a theory why Hudson flopped with the Razzie committee though. Everything about her performance just screams "Oscar bait". She's an actress currently known for pappy "chick flicks" and rom-coms (despite her award-winning debut in Almost Famous) who often plays bubbly blonde women, and now she's been cast as a recovering drug addict whose time spent with an autistic character "changes" her for the better. She's even shaved off her famous gold locks for the role. Essentially, it's what any actress does when they want to be taken "seriously" by the Oscars, and the Razzies saw through it right away.

Considering the inclusion of both Hudson and Hathaway in this year's Razzies and the ultimate outcome, it's safe to say that Hathway probably won the "bride wars" over Hudson in the end. Actually thinking about that, don't watch Bride Wars at all. It's just as atrocious as this movie.

Worst Supporting Actor - Rudy Giuliani as himself in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

An interesting category this year. Former New York mayor and current Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani was the main highlight in this category for his embarrassing cameo as him in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, an otherwise well-received sequel to the original Borat movie. Other nominees include Chevy Chase as Chevy (essentially playing himself) in the bizarre Paul Hogan vehicle The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, Shia LaBeouf as Creeper in The Tax Collector and Arnold Schwarzeneggar as James Hook in Iron Mask. Furthermore, Bruce Willis was actually nominated for three roles - Clay Young in Breach, Donovan Chalmers in Hard Kill and Frank Clark in Survive the Night.

To possibly nobody's surprise, Giuliani won this one. What makes his role so absurd though is that he didn't even know that he was appearing in the Borat movie! He was told that he was doing an interview for something, only for it to be revealed to be part of a mockumentary. You'd think that he would have known of Borat by now before doing the interview. I'd say that the other nominees were actually acting in their films (albeit terribly) whilst Giuliani was essentially tricked, but let's be real hear, do we even remember the other nominees and their roles?

Worst Supporting Actress - Maddie Ziegler as Music Gamble in Music.

There were three unsurprising nominations in this category this year, and then two genuinely surprising nominations. The two Fantasy Island actresses Lucy Hale (playing Melanie Cole) and Maggie Q (playing Gwen Olsen) were expected and Maggie Ziegler was absolutely dreadful in Music as the titular character. However, Kristen Wiig had received some praise from critics as Barbara Minerva (a.k.a. Cheetah) in Wonder Woman 1984 (maybe it was the makeup job at the end that spoilt it, like with Judi Dench in Cats) and Glenn Close was actually nominated for an Oscar for her role in Hillbilly Elegy as Bonnie "Mamaw" Vance.

Anyway, the last two have nothing to worry about as the "prize" rightfully went to Ziegler in the end. I don't care about the "excuse" Sia made on her Twitter for casting her over an actual autistic actor, it's most likely that she only cast her because of her appearing in her music videos in the past. I am absolutely fed up with movies that provide a stereotypical depiction of autism or exploit the irritating "inspirationally disadvantaged" trope. Heck, I'm just going to come right out and admit that Forrest Gump annoyed the hell out of me with its autism depiction as well, despite that fact that everyone acts like it's one of the greatest films ever and it won a shit-tonne of awards.

Ziegler's role in the film is basically what Kirk Lazarus, funnily enough also portrayed by Robert Downey Jr., from Tropic Thunder (awesome movie) deemed as the wrong way of going about it. It's the female equivalent of Sean Penn's performance in I Am Sam. It's mainly her either pulling absurd facial expressions or appearing as blank as possible - that's not playing an autistic person, that's just insulting them. And we all know what Lazarus also warned us about that sort of thing. You don't win Oscars for going "full-on" when portraying an autistic person  - as Willy Wonka himself one said, you win NOTHING!

Hopefully next time somebody decides to make another film on autism, they hire an actual autistic actor in order to add more diversity and authenticity to the film business. Also to avoid another embarrassing incident like this one again.

Worst Screen Combo - Rudy Giuliani and his pants zipper in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

It's the return of the best category of the Razzies. Not only are there the actor combos such as Maria Bakalova and Rudy Giuliani in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and Lauren Lapkus and David Spade in The Wrong Missy, but there are the voice combos of Robert Downey Jr. and his "utterly unconvincing "Welsh" accent" in Dolittle and Adam Sander and his "grating simpleton voice" in Hubie Halloween, as well as the combo of Harrison Ford and "that totally fake-looking CGI "dog"" in The Call of the Wild.

At the last minute it seems, the "prize" was given to Giuliani and...his pants zipper. No sign of Bakalova at all. It's quite likely because (1) the zipper scene was that infamous and (2) Bakalova was actually really good in the film. Again, whether he can be counted as an "actor" is questionable due to him not realising what he was actually starring in, but...yeah. It doesn't matter which combo involving Giuliani we're talking about here, the scene and interactions were extremely cringeworthy. Besides, a screen combo is about chemistry, which Giuliani certainly lacked, both with woman and zipper.

Worst Screenplay - 365 Days.

The Worst Screenplay list is almost the same as the Worst Picture list, with 365 Days, Dolittle and Fantasy Island returning. However, Absolute Proof and Music are the exceptions - instead, the two nominations for this category in their place are all three of the Barbie & Kendra movies grouped together (again) and Hillbilly Elegy.

Anyway, 365 Days finally gets an "award"! I could not be any more relieved about that, especially since that was the film I mainly wanted to win Worst Picture. Fifty Shades of Grey, which this film is deemed to be the Polish rip-off of, comes across as actually somewhat more tasteful in comparison. Despite it being an awful depiction of bondage and yet another glamorisation of sexual abuse, Anastacia Steele was specifically working as Christian Grey's secretary. With 365 Days however, Torricelli is a sex trafficker and Biel is a woman that he abducted.

Let me just point out that sex trafficking is not an "exciting" way to escape a "boring" and "dreary" life, despite what the film wants you to believe. It is a genuinely nasty experience that can leave victims suffering PTSD and other unpleasant mental health issues. The story of Welsh singer Duffy, who is one of the many people who openly criticised this "cinematic" garbage, is just one of the many examples of the realities of sex trafficking. I'm just as confused as to why Netflix was willing to keep it on its website in the first place considering the themes and the backlash towards them. Some people even cancelled their Netflix subscriptions as a result.

Oh, and for added bad news, the book that this is based on is actually the first in a trilogy. Just like the Fifty Shades trilogy then. Let's hope that there isn't a book told from the sex trafficker's point of view. Or any film adaptations of the sequels, for that matter.

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off Or Sequel - Dolittle.

I honestly think that the Mulan remake should have been on the shortlist. It butchered the original film it was based on, was utterly insensitive to Chinese culture, made Mulan a character with less agency and had a one-dimensional villain. That said, there were some pretty cringeworthy alternatives on the list that make it look tame in comparison - mainly 365 Days (Polish Fifty Shades of Grey), Dolittle (based on the Doctor Dolittle books), Fantasy Island (based on the TV show of the same name) and Hubie Halloween (classified as a rip-off of Ernest Scared Stupid). I was surprised though that Wonder Woman 1984 was on the list too, considering that reception of it was simply mixed rather than negative, and I highly suspect it was because the previous film did so well and its sequel was an extremely disappointing follow-up in comparison. Let's also not forget that dreadful scene at the end that comes across as glorified rape. At least Mulan doesn't have THAT.

Dolittle ultimately won this category. Mediocre in most aspects, and downright ridiculous in others. It's basically meant to be some sort of origin story for our favourite doctor who can talk to animals, only he's really cut up about his wife's death and some generic kid protagonist has to convince him to snap out of his funk in order to save Queen Victoria. Hey, at least the musical flop featuring "Tyrannosaurus" Rex Harrison captured the spirit of the original books decently and had some catchy songs. This one is just yet another one of those more "serious" reimaginings, only this time it cannot make out whether it's truly a drama or a comedy.

The worst part here is that some critics pointed out that there was already an interesting plot occurring between Dolittle and his wife, and then the filmmakers fridged her in order to give him angst and some random kid the chance to "save" him. And let's be honest, the fridging trope has been happening a lot throughout the past few years. Maybe they should have kept the wife alive after all. It would have made a different experience to the one we got in the end.

Special Governors' Award For The Worst Calendar Year EVER! - 2020.

No Razzie Redeemer Awards this year, but a special one was given out to 2020 for being the "worst calendar year EVER". Honestly, deeming it the worst year ever is a bit of a stretch - 2016 was a infamously shitty year with the presidential elections and Brexit being voted for, and let's not forget any year in which the World Wars took place. But yeah, it was a crappy year alright, even if there was some hope at the end of it with this year's presidential elections going well (though the storming of the Capitol this year was a shocking and uncalled-for end to the election period). First there was the threat of World War III, then more Brexit talk, then the arrival of the COVID-19 virus and then the death of George Floyd and other black people at the hands of corrupt police. So whilst it may not necessarily be the worst year of all time, it's definitely one of them.

So that's it for this year's Razzie Awards review. A few of the winners I feel were chosen due to political opinions, but then again, they were certainly asking to be nominated anyway. Besides, Absolute Proof is genuinely bad and blatant lies. And it's not like I can distance myself from political views anyway, since I pretty much support the Razzie Committee's political views as well. This also has some of the most offensive films to have been nominated this year, what with a film that glorifies sex trafficking and a failed Oscar bait musical that portrays autism in the most insensitive light possible. Guess the awfulness of 2020 extended to its films as well.

Overall though, a pretty good year for the Razzies as usual and I certainly got some enjoyment (and time to vent on the more offensive movies) writing this review.

The Top 6 Most Epic Unmaskings In The Masked Singer UK

So Series 2 of The Masked Singer in the UK wrapped up just before Valentine's Day. And it was surely a ride as always. After several days of binge watching both Series 1 and 2 on ITV Hub before their deadline expired and getting some important screenshots, I've decided for the next couple of months or so to do some articles linked with the series as a whole, mainly the UK version.

Besides the amazing performances and surprise covers this show has, we all know what the real highlight is - finding out who is hidden underneath the outrageous disguises in each episode. And in some cases, it's quite the shocker when it's not who we expect.

So for this first Masked Singer article, I'm counting down six of the most surprising reveals - whether it's a surprisingly major singer or someone else. Some of these stars you would not have expected to have appeared on a show like this in the first place.

Word of warning, given the nature of the series, all of these examples are SPOILERS. Unless you have already seen the series or don't mind plot twists being given away to you in advance, it's best to watch all of the performances from all of the contestants before on YouTube and then the reveals themselves before reading this list. Here's a link to the official YouTube channel and its playlists so that you can do that.

Alright, let's get to it! The countdown starts now! :D

6. Jonathan Ross finally scores a point - Series 2, Episode 3.

With the majority of these list entries, nobody correctly guessed who was under the masks until they came off. Swan's unmasking is the only exception, which explains which I did not place it higher. That said, it is important to note the context of why the unmasking is here in the first place.

It's safe to say that most of the time, TV presenter Jonathan Ross is pretty far off with his guesses. For instance, he guessed Edwina Currie for Sausage and Christopher Biggins for Badger. Mostly a case of him joking around, but then there was the incident where he was the only panelist who failed to guess that Mel B was disguised as Seahorse.

So that's three Mel Bs and one Trish Goddard. He still thought it was Trisha even after the reveal for a bit.

But hey, he was more than able to make up for that in the episode that came after. Swan had lost the Sing-Off against Sausage and now had to take off her mask. Most of the panel suspected that she was American and had possibly been in a girl band, with Kimberley Wyatt and Ashley Roberts being two of the guesses.

That was not what Jonathan had in mind though. Sure, he took the girl band thing into account, but he mentioned that some of the clues mentioned prime ministers and presidents, which made him think about Love Actually...

Yep, he guessed the woman who played Hugh Grant's secretary in that movie. The other panelists were taken by surprise with this comment, especially Rita (who went on to guess Idina Menzel), especially since this potential star had not been mentioned on as a likely candidate for Swan beforehand. And sure enough...

That's right, Jonathan was the ONLY panelist to correctly guess the star for once (not counting the time he guessed Jason Manford for Hedgehog just because Rita guessed it was him). As it turns out, the girl band was Milan and the American accent was fake. He was definitely chuffed about that, I'm telling you.

So the moral of the story is this, even a stopped watch is right twice a day. Jonathan may be pretty far off with his guesses most of the time, but when he gets it correct, he gets it correct big time.

5. One reveal I can be smug about - Series 2, Episode 7.

Admittedly there is some bias on my part on why this makes it on here. There are plenty of times when the panelists are unable to guess the correct celebrity under the mask. But being a casual viewer of the show and getting the answer before they do is always a treat.

If there was anything certain about Dragon, it was that it was a comedian. Now we just needed to guess which one. The most likely option was Jennifer Saunders, who had done singing before (most notably in Shrek 2), with other options including Katherine Ryan and Miranda Hart.

One day, I considered the fact that Dragon talked about eating strange foods and remembered some old TV show about historical cuisine, which was the first time I found out about Sue Perkins. I brought up this possibility to my mother, who also watches the show, but she dismissed this as unlikely. After all, since when have we heard her sing before?

Hey, guess what, I was right! And nobody on the panel got it at all! I was extremely proud of myself that night for getting it before they did. As as to why we haven't seen her sing before...she normally gets stage fright when it comes to singing. This was the main way she could make herself feel comfortable. For the panel, it was a massive shock, but for me, it was just my guessing game paying off. ;)

4. Ms. Ora, meet your match! - Series 1, Episode 3.

Chameleon was quite the character for the two episodes that he appeared in. Besides his impressive build underneath his costume, he also appeared to be pretty confident in himself, as well as the type to splash out a lot of cash.

Pay no mind to the bottom right. That's either the panelists thinking about who spent a lot of cash, or Rita discussing her feelings for him.

There were two things that everyone knew. The first was that Rita Ora clearly had a thing for him. In her own words, "I never thought I'd fancy a chameleon".

She even had a rose with her whenever he appeared onstage.

The second was that it was unlikely to be a professional singer. But with such a great build, surely it was a sports star, right? Or perhaps even a buff actor like Idris Elba?

Well, turns out it was a professional singer after all. You know, the lead singer of the band that sung "Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)" and "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"? And he still looked fit even now! Rita in particular was stunned by who her secret masked crush was.

What makes this particularly surprising is that this was the first professional singer to be unmasked on the UK version, as beforehand were soap star Patsy Palmer (disguised as Butterfly) and politician Alan Johnson (disguised as Pharoah). And keep in mind that The Darkness were a major group back in the day.

Oh, and just to clarify, Justin confessed straight afterwards that he was single. So unless the age gap gets in the way, maybe he and Rita could be a cute couple after all? ;)

3. Something the Osbournes didn't catch onto - Series 1, Episode 6.

Duck was one of those contestants who didn't get off to a great start but then gradually started to improve her game. Originally there were assumptions that she was a sports star, but then guesses with professional singers started to come in. She still struggled to avoid the Sing-Off twice, but hey, at least she survived them.

So not only was it a surprise when it turned out that she was a professional singer, but even moreso when it turned out to be one of the more influential female singers of the British rock scene.

This was such a surprise for the panelists that their reaction was used for the episode's thumbnail on the ITV Hub. Sure it was somewhat disappointing that Ken Jeong was unable to witness this epic reveal, but the addition of two of the Osbournes on the panel more than makes up for it.

Kelly Osbourne in particular was stunned that she hadn't got it right, considering that she and Skin knew each other well. Of course, this was a relief for our contestant, considering that she thought that the game was up when the Osbournes arrived, only to be able to misdirect them anyway.

And then there was the shocked reaction of everyone on Twitter who couldn't believe that Skin of all people had sung Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On". Not only that, but she does it pretty well!

2. The clue was in the song - Series 2, Episode 6.

Viking seemed to be one of those contestants you couldn't place a finger on. Was he Bear Grylls, or Ricky Wilson from Kaiser Chiefs, or Jerome Flynn, or even Pat Sharp? Either way, if was hard to decide whether it was a professional singer or someone else - he did pretty well on "Songbird" but was in the Sing-Off after singing "Watermelon Sugar".

After surviving the Sing-Off, he made a comeback with a slow acoustic version of a-ha's "Take On Me", probably one of his best performances in the series by far. I was a little confused as to why it was a slow and melancholy-sounding version, but I still enjoyed it.

Next week, he did "The Scientist" and, despite being eliminated that week, still did a really good job with the high notes.

Wait a second, he wears a Viking outfit (which is supposed to be a clue in of itself), performs "Take On Me" and is good at hitting the high notes. Doesn't that hint at the lead singer from a-ha itself? I mean, they originally came from Norway, right?

No, it can't possibly be him. Why would he be doing this show in the first place?

I was left stunned for the rest of the night after this reveal. Seriously, the original singer of "Take On Me" performs "Take On Me" in the competition and still nobody knew it was him, including myself. As Joel correctly pointed out, this was the first time that a contestant had performed their own song on the show.

It also caused me to look back at his earlier performances in more detail. And upon hearing his "Watermelon Sugar" rendition again, I have to admit that it was actually pretty good after all. Either way, what a surprise.

1. Looks like we're the silly sausages - Series 2, Episode 8.

There was no doubt that Series 2 winner Sausage was one of the greatest singers on the show (runner-up Badger even praised her voice in an interview afterwards), and supposedly there was no doubt about who could potentially be in the disguise. Could it be Sheridan Smith from Legally Blonde? Could it be Stacey Solomon, runner-up on X-Factor and Queen of the Jungle? Maybe it was even Jennifer Hudson or Beverley Knight?

Of course, those questions could not be answered until the very end of the series when she won the grand prize. With all the clues that the panelists were given, surely at least one of them would be able to get it right?

Admittedly there was some anxiety shown before this unmasking. Guest panelist Nicola Roberts (who won Series 1 as Queen Bee) mentioned that she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of the other panelists, something that did not come to light when she correctly guessed Robin and Badger's identities as Aston Merrygold and Ne-Yo respectively. Additionally, when Nicola guessed that Stacey Solomon was Sausage, Rita decided to go with Leona Lewis but mentioned that she would be upset with herself if it was Stacey.

Except none of that mattered because NOBODY got it right at all.

Everyone on the judging panel was stunned. Even more so than they usually were when surprise reveals occurred.

In fact, Mo Gilligan even had to get out of his seat because he was so flabbergasted. Something that teasers for the finale gleefully exploited.

The best part? Jonathan had guessed Joss Stone...for another contestant entirely. Which means that nobody had even suspected her for the entirety of her run.

It's one thing for a contestant to keep their identity a secret until the big reveal. It's another thing when they're the winner of the series AND a legend in the music scene. Taking that into account as well as the priceless reactions of the judges, this certainly takes the top spot on my list.

So that's it for the list! I'd also like to point out that the other stars that the panelists were unable to guess were Tree (Teddy Sheringham), Alien (Sophie Ellis-Bexter), Grandfather Clock (Glenn Hoddle) and Bush Baby (John Thomson). And just for info's sake, the other ones they correctly guessed were Daisy (Kelis), Unicorn (Jake Shears), Fox (Denise van Outen), Monster (Cee Lo Green), Octopus (Katherine Jenkins), the aforementioned Queen Bee, Blob (Sir Lenny Henry) and Harlequin (Gabrielle).

I will (hopefully!) be posting the next two Masked Singer blog posts throughout the next couple of months or so. One of them I'm already making good process on and the other one requires a lot of thinking behind it. But once I've gotten them sorted out, they're be good to go. ;D

The Grinch vs. The Grinch - Comparing The Two Feature-Length Films

VS. 

So Illumination Entertainment's version of The Grinch was released two years ago. And it was...well, divisive is probably the best way to put it. Looking at the review websites for instance, you'll see that it has 60% from the Rotten Tomatoes critics, 50% from the Rotten Tomatoes audiences, 6.3/10 from iMDb, 51/100 from the Metacritic critics and 6.2/10 from the Metacritic audiences. Google users were noticeably kinder with 87% of them liking it, but that was the lone exception.

Not that different from the live-action film from 2000 with Jim Carrey then. That one has 49% from the Rotten Tomatoes critics, 56% from the Rotten Tomatoes audiences, 6.2/10 from iMDb, 46/100 from the Metacritic critics,  6.5/10 from the Metacritic audiences and 88% from Google users. Oh well, at least it's better than the abomination that was The Cat In The Hat with Mike Myers, even though it's partly the reason why the latter film exists in the first place.

As it's coming up to Christmas and The Grinch has always been a favourite Christmas tale for many people, especially Dr. Seuss fans, I thought it was best if I just re-evaluated these films to see if any of them was clearly superior to the other. I will be comparing them in the following categories: the Grinch himself, the people of Whoville who he initially detests, the aesthetics and tones, the soundtracks and the overall message of the stories.

Keep in mind that this will not count the Chuck Jones animated special from 1966, as that one is obviously the best adaptation already. It has the legendary Boris Karloff (known for his work in horror films) as the Grinch and the narrator, the theme song is superbly sung by Thurl Ravenscroft (most known as Tony the Tiger), the animation is both faithful to the original illustration and somehow ends up looking distinct from it anyway and it is much less heavy-handed about the anti-consumerism message it promotes. Need more proof of its quality? It has 100% from Rotten Tomatoes critics, 98% from Rotten Tomatoes audiences, 8.3/10 from iMDb, and 92% from Google users. Sure, there aren't any Metacritic scores up yet, but for now it doesn't matter. Pretty clear cut victory if you ask me.

The Grinch.

Let's start by analysing the Grinch himself - he is the one mentioned in the title after all. He's that miserable old grump who hates Christmas so much that steals all of the decorations and food from Whoville, only to realise that Christmas is more than just gifts and having a change of heart as a result.

There was never really any big backstory for why the Grinch originally had such a poor sentiment towards Christmas, other than the fact that his heart was "three sizes too small". The same went for the Chuck Jones special. The feature-length films however had to give him a "sympathetic" excuse involving childhood trauma in order to explain the way he is today. Sure, they need to expand for time, but the original incarnation of him was fine. Simply hating Christmas because he sees it as some ridiculously noisy over-the-top thing that only seems to be about gift-giving is a legitimate excuse. If anything, it helps out with the anti-consumerism message even more by painting him as the consumerist in the process.

Anyway, onto the 2000 version. This version of him was horrifically abused by the Whos when he was younger, simply because he looked different compared to them. The whole thing is an allegory for racism, especially once he yells out "IS IT BECAUSE I'M GREEN?!" after they screw him over yet again just before he decides to steal everything. I'm not that fond of the backstory - it villainises everyone else as a result and that's not the point of the original story.

Fortunately, the Grinch is still kind of a jackass in this version. Plus, Jim Carrey was at the peak of his career when he made this movie and did a surprisingly good job in the role. I'm not normally a fan of Jim Carrey's works - for instance, The Mask is kind of overrated when compared to the original gory comic book it was based on and Mr. Popper's Penguins is just a betrayal of the original book. But when Carrey does well, he does well. His hammy nature makes the character pretty enjoyable and his makeup job is convincing, especially once he dons the Santa suit. It's most likely that the film would have been an absolute mess without him onboard, as the live-action version of The Cat In The Hat would further prove.

The 2018 version gives him the backstory of being in an orphanage and having a PTSD-like reaction to Christmas as a result. Not as problematic as the 2000 version in that regard, but still clearly trying to make the audience sympathise with someone who plans to sabotage Christmas. It was interesting how he initially didn't join in with the Christmas festivities after saving the day due to his guilt over what he did.

The main problem is that the Grinch comes across as too "nice". Sure, it was sweet that he didn't bully his dog Max for once, but someone could have him be nice to Max in their own take whilst still having him come across as a proper villain. As someone said on a ProtonJon livestream I watched once, he's not so much evil as much as "annoyed". Which is technically true, as he seems to come across as more of a trickster archetype in this version, who's mainly stealing gifts to teach Whoville that Christmas shouldn't just be about gift-giving. Benedict Cumberbatch does a pretty good job with the voice and portrayal, though it's certainly unlikely to be as memorable as Boris Karloff or Jim Carrey's takes on the character. Overall, he's mainly a grump who still harbours trauma from his past. That is all.

Winner: The 2000 version. He's just so much more memorable and he truly does come off as a "mean one" at times, in contrast with his simply grouchy 2018 counterpart.

The People Of Whoville.

The people in Whoville like Christmas a lot...and that's pretty much the only thing the films have in common with regard to the depiction of the Whos. One is downright offensive whilst the other is more faithful to the original story.

So let's discuss the 2000 version. Jesus Christ what was up with the Whos there?! They have now become a bunch of obnoxious idiots who only care about presents, with Cindy, Martha and Cindy's father being the only exceptions. The WHOLE POINT of the original story was that the Grinch was the consumeristic one who believed that they were just as consumeristic as him. It was all a gross misunderstanding on his part. The Mayor in particular is handled in an appalling manner in this movie. He is the one who was most abusive to the Grinch and then tries to pin the blame on Cindy when the Grinch predictably steals everything after that dreadful "razor" incident. If you are like me and consider the original Whoville to be the same one in the original Horton Hears A Who! story, it completely goes against the Mayor's original characterisation.

The 2018 version is much more faithful in its portrayal of the Whos on the other hand. They still have flaws, but this time it's more because they love to have big celebrations with extravagant decorations and keep on going more over the top with every passing year. Otherwise, they seem pretty accepting of the Grinch even before the climatic moment when he turns good, and they don't seem to notice anything up with him beforehand. Plus, they don't seem to mind what happened with the presents and are a lot more accepting of Cindy as well. Like in the original book, it seems to be more of a misunderstanding on the Grinch's part.

Winner: The 2018 version. This one was a little too obvious. You know what, just pretend the ones from the 2000 version don't exist.

The Aesthetic And Tone.

Besides the fact that one is live-action and the other is animated, the main difference between the films is the tone they have. Essentially, one is downright weird (even by Dr. Seuss standards) and offensive, and the other is "safe" and a little bit bland as a result.

The 2000 version has a darker aesthetic, which is interesting, but it also tries to go for a rather vulgar and surreal tone, which pretty much falls flat. The "termites in his smile" scene makes sense, but the heart attack scene is just ridiculous (even if it does seem like the more realistic reaction to your heart growing three sizes). It's especially odd when you consider that Ron Howard directed the film, and he normally directs films that aren't like this. I guess maybe the studio were forcing him to go with this aesthetic?

Whilst Jim Carrey looks fine as the Grinch (especially once he puts on the Santa outfit) and Cindy looks adorable, most of the Whos look downright hideous. Okay, I guess they were trying to make them look as obnoxious as they acted, but really?! It's essentially like what happened in The Cat In The Hat with the weird Cat suit and those grotesques versions of Thing #1 and Thing #2. Yes, Dr. Seuss stories are normally bizarre themselves, but not in a vulgar way. No wonder we haven't had any more live-action adaptations since then.

The 2018 version goes for brighter colours and looks somewhat more faithful to the original illustrations. Well okay, it still looks like an Illumination Entertainment movie but the characters don't look ridiculous. Plus it relies less on the vulgar humour that the 2000 version did. It's unfortunately nowhere near as wacky as Dr. Seuss stories normally are, but it does have its moments at times.

Winner: The 2018 version. It's pretty much another standard Illumination Entertainment film, but it's still more faithful than vulgar humour and hideous-looking live-action characters. Well, at least as faithful as a relatively tame version can get.

The Soundtrack.

The Chuck Jones special was where we originally heard the classic "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch". It is just awesome. Thurl Ravenscroft absolutely nails it with his bass and the lyrics do not hold back when describing the "vile" Grinch himself. It's not just the theme song though - the rest of the soundtrack is also pretty good quality, with a sort of old-timey feel to it.

 For some reason, both films decided to "modernise" the soundtrack to make it "relate" more with contemporary audiences. And by that, I mean use "trendy" music that will be extremely out of date a decade later or so - though considering this is 2020, the 2000 version is already out of date. Most notably, both involve rappers. Word of advice - don't do that sort of thing. It just becomes downright cringeworthy and will turn off viewers who aren't into that stuff in the first place.

The 2000 version goes for an fascinating route by having Jim Carrey sing the song in character as the Grinch. So rather than it being one insult after another hurled at him, it becomes more of a song revelling in his villainy. Kind of like what happened with "Macavity" when the Cats musical was adapted for the screen - actually no, on seconds thoughts, forget that even happened. Otherwise, they simply hired "modern" bands such as Smash Mouth and *NSYNC - bands that no doubt were more relevent in the 90s than today. Busta Rhymes also appears for some bizarre reason.

The 2018 version? Sadly, even the theme song is "modernised", which is now performed by the rapper Tyler, The Creator (yes, the comma is part of the name). Using Jackie Wilson's "Deck The Halls" is fine as that is already a timeless Christmas song and the same goes for the other oldies music that gets used (examples include The Supremes and Nat King Cole). Using rap music just because it's "trendy" is not (even if Run DMC is a brilliant band).

Winner: The 2000 version, if only slightly. "Updating" the music is simply a no-no for me in both cases, but at least Jim Carrey does the more interesting theme tune.

The Message.

The moral of the original story is essentially that Christmas isn't about material goods and is more about enjoying the good times with your loved ones. The book presents this message well, as does the TV special. The feature-length movies however try to be too forceful with the message, whilst at the same time completely undermining themselves by essentially being made for money purposes. Well, considering their quality and soundtracks, it seems that money was the main thing in mind.

The way the 2000 version handles the message is more forceful than thrusting an anvil into somebody's face. As I mentioned, the Whos are now consumeristic morons. Cindy is one of the only exceptions. It's only once Cindy's father stands up for his daughter that they realise how awful they have been towards the Grinch. This is especially bewildering when you consider the fact that the movie was mostly made as a cash-grabber and modernised its own soundtrack. Pretty hypocritical if you ask me.

At first glance, it would seem that the 2018 version fixed that problem by making the Whos nicer characters and the Grinch more of a lonely character with PTSD. Alas, the anti-consumerism message is undermined by the fact that the film does not practice what it preaches itself. Besides trying to modernise the soundtrack like the other movie did, this probably has even more merchandise associated with it than the 2000 version. Oh, and don't forget some of the weird memes it used in its advertising stage. "When guac is extra", anyone?

Winner: It's a tie. If anything, the original book and TV special managed to make the anti-consumerism message more noticeable without being forceful about it.

So after analysing both films in detail on these aspects, I can only conclude that these films don't really surpass each other. Obviously, they have different aspects that either make them better or make them worse. The 2000 version has the better Grinch and soundtrack and is a much more memorable film to top it off, for better and for worse. On the other hand, the 2018 version has more sympathetic characters in general and in a way is more faithful when it comes to tone, aesthetics and (in a sense) the plot. The only thing that can truly be agreed on by most people is that they don't match up with the original book and the Chuck Jones special.

In fact, most of these differences that make one film better than another are pretty subtle, rather than clear cut. And the review ratings show this perfectly. Critics were slightly more in favour of the 2018 version whilst audiences were slightly more in favour of the 2000 version (with iMDb being one of the few exceptions). If anything, it's probably best if we get a general opinion from everybody who watched these films.

I have created a poll in Google Forms here, where people can vote for which feature-length film they preferred, as well as comment on why they preferred it. I'm genuinely interested to see other people's thoughts on these films given how their critical and commercial reception so far appears to be similar. Meanwhile, I'm going to probably be watching the TV special all over again. It's certainly a treat, I can acknowledge that. ;)

My Halloween Costume For This Year (And How I Got It Together)

"Oh. That magician wasn't trying to kill me. I guess I should go apologise to his family."

So I had a pretty good Halloween this year. I tend to get into the Halloween spirit a lot - eating Halloween food, listening to spooky songs, etc. The dressing up is also an aspect I like, and this year was no exception.

I posted this photo on the Death Battle forums along with some context for it, but obviously I want to discuss it in further detail. As explained there, this was in response to a quick comment in "Luke Skywalker vs. Harry Potter" involving Boomstick getting the killing curse from Harry Potter confused with "Abracadra", leading to an unfortunate incident with a magician. The photo is a representation of the aftermath. Whatever Boomstick did with the magician is entirely up to you.

The jacket was customised by a good friend of mine back in 2019. I'd wanted a jacket like that for some time but most of the shops didn't have the checkered style that I wanted. Bless my friend however, she decided to help out and managed to find the fabric needed. She also mentioned that she paid careful attention to the sleeves and the way that they were frayed when she cut them. It's a darker red than normal, but said sleeves and checkerboard style work perfectly. I wanted to pay her back with money for her favour, but she kept on saying that it was fine, so I ultimately just bought her a nice gift in return.

The cap is not an actual trucker cap unfortunately - it was a red cap bought at H&M last year and I added white paper to the front with double-sided tape. There was a slit at the top of it in order to make it fold around the hat better, which fortunately cannot be seen in the photo. I was unable to buy the trucker cap from the Rooster Teeth store (what I really wanted) in time for Halloween, but there's always next time.

I originally wanted to buy a fake moustache, but the party shops in my area have shut down and even beforehand, I couldn't find a moustache in the style that I wanted. As a result, I had to resort to brown eyebrow liner. Honestly, I was quite surprised about how different I looked with that thing on. It may not have been as big as I would have wanted it to be, but I feel it still works.

The fake blood was bought cheaply at Wilko in a small plastic tube. I honestly did not expect it to be as thick as it actually was before applying it, so I had to smear some of it on even further. That said, this was one of the most convincing sources of fake blood I've come across. My brother has made fake blood before from food colouring and chocolate sauce - had I been able to use that one again, I probably would have add "blood" to my face. Then again, maybe I was just being a bit hard on myself and didn't need to use as much.

The top hat was part of some old magic kit my brother had as a kid. It was extremely crumpled when I fished it out, but honestly it worked out for the better. I'd also planned to use a prop of a severe head on a spear that was bought cheaply at Poundland several years ago for the magician's head but ultimately this didn't happen. Firstly because the head didn't actually look right and secondly because it was better to just leave his fate to imagination.

I will make a few criticisms of the outfit. I would have honestly preferred to wear a vest than the t-shirt I ultimately ended up wearing. It's the right colour but the sleeves covered up a bit too much and it would have been better to have implemented something similar to Boomstick's tattoo. Similarly, I wore the same blue jeans that he did, but most of the picture is cropped because I didn't have a way of replicating the gun leg (one of my favourite aspects of his appearance). Everything else seems to be fair game.

So overall, a pretty neat (albeit cheap) costume that paid off. Let me just say that dressing up as Boomstick is a good choice for a Halloween costume - it's casual and doesn't require anything too finicky for the basic clothes, but it also has the extra dress-up details such as the moustache that make it apparent that it's designed for dress-up. Therefore, you can wear the outfit for most of the day and when you need to get dressed up for trick-or-treating or Halloween parties (or whatever their equivalents for this year on Zoom are), you just add the extra details and are good to go. ;)

My Review Of The Jackbox Party Pack 6

The Jackbox Party Pack 6 poster.

The most recent of the Jackbox Party Packs (until the seventh one came out that was) and one of the most solid ones out there. There's no drawing game here unfortunately if you're into that genre (unlike in previous party packs), but one of the games does have a round focused on drawing, so that more than makes up for it.

I will also be making some livestream recommendations throughout for some of the games, just to let you know. Alright, let's start!

Trivia Murder Party 2.

I said in my Jackbox Party Pack 3 review that Trivia Murder Party is one of my favourite Jackbox games of all time. However, if I had to narrow it down to which is my number one favourite Jackbox game, its sequel certainly takes the cake. The first game I feel has the best delivery of the questions, but its sequel more than makes up for that with the new features that it brings to the series.

In contrast to the first game, this one is a lot more narrative-driven, with even more backstory provided for our favourite nerdy serial killer. This time, he has moved back into his family's Murder Hotel and is continuing his twisted trivia game there. Some old minigames have returned such as Chalices and the dreaded Loser Wheel, but there are new ones such as Dumb Waiter (which works in a similar way to Choices, Choices), Tattoos (in which you must give [REDACTED] a tattoo whilst he makes dirty noises) and Mirror (which involves handwriting). Somehow, Quiplash itself has become a minigame that you can play with two players, and yes, Schmitty is there to host it! Told you that you can't have a Party Pack without Phil Ridarelli! Poor Schmitty though. Why can't [REDACTED] let him out of the hotel for once?

My favourite aspect of all though is the Gifts minigame, which has replaced the finger-cutting minigame. Oh sure, you still have to chop a finger or two off if you receive the Knife gift, but the other gifts have different purposes. The best one is clearly the Father's Hat though - turns out [REDACTED] has some severe daddy issues and so he will fuck you over big time if you get this gift. And if you escape with any of the gifts...well, I can't spoil what happens, but just take into account that the game won't be over at that point (so don't try and quit the game when the credits start!).

Otherwise, the game has the same wickedly dark humour of the original, the same delightfully crazy host and the same awesomely catchy music. Definitely the best game of this pack by far.

Role Models.

A new and unusual premise for a Jackbox game. Lead on by your easygoing if somewhat sarcastic scientist host (voiced by Leila Gorstein) and her assistant, consisting of two eyes and floating hands, you will make your way through certain prompts and match other players up with the "role" that suits them best.

These rounds are very fun and wacky, almost like something from the Buzzfeed quizzes. Examples include types of people at a college party, types of ghosts and Disney Princesses, but also types of drinks and characters from Pretty Little Liars. Different roles will pop up and you vote for which player matches said role. Sometimes there will be a tie, in which case the players will have to complete tasks to fight for the roles.

There's still competition to get the most points from correct guesses and passing the set tasks, but overall it's very relaxed compared to other games and most certainly unique. The only downside is that as it requires knowing about the other players, you won't be able to play it with random people from the audience if you play this game during a livestream. That said, it's nice to play something suitable for a close-knit group once in a while.

For streamers, this will probably be the best game to play at the end of your Jackbox-themed livestream. It's very relaxing and whilst you will still be competing for points, you're not trying to get any questions correct or come up with something impressive (unless you end up with one of the rounds in which you compete for a particular role).

Dictionarium.

This one is all about words...and also their meaning. In this game, players are given made up words that they must create a new definition for, before then coming up with a new synonym for it and an example of how it can be used in a sentence. Each round, the players vote for their favourite options, as happens a lot in Jackbox james. Being someone who studied English Language in Sixth Form, this game already grabbed my interest from the start.

It's not just the gameplay that I enjoy though. The host (voiced by Olivia Nielsen) is extremely chipper and has a unique accent, thus making her a complete joy to have around. This game also has one of the best designs of any Jackbox game, with angels and devils popping up frequently. The main designer for this game was Tim Sniffen, so big shout out to him.

This is probably the best Jackbox Party Pack 6 to start your Jackbox livestream with due to the way it tests your creativity. Plus, it's just really lighthearted and fun given the subject matter. Certainly worth checking out.

Push The Button.

This game has a similar premise to Fakin' It in that players much find the faker(s), but then takes it in a new direction. This time, aliens have invaded a spaceship and the players must guess which other player(s) are said aliens in disguise.

Your A.I. leader D.O.D.E. (voiced by Surena Marie) will give you certain tasks to complete, with a captain assigning certain people to complete tasks such as drawing or answering questions. In the same vein as Fakin' It, the aliens get different prompts. One of the things that helps for livestreams this time is that due to the lack of the physical actions such as pointing and making faces that Fakin' It had, it's easy to play without face-cams and whilst it's best to play with people you know, you can still play with your audience members.

Another difference between this game and Fakin' It is that the aliens stay the same for the whole game. The assigned captain has the choice to "push the button", which means they can select the players they think are the aliens. Once everyone not chosen says yes to the choices, the chosen players are ejected. If the choices are correct, the humans win. However, even if one choice is won, the remaining aliens eject the humans and win instead. There's also a timer for the whole game and the aliens will win if time runs out. Overall, it increases the stakes for each side and makes for an interesting departure from Fakin' It, as well as a fun game in its own right.

I will say one thing though - more times than not, the aliens will win. I had seen playthroughs where the humans have won, but the aliens gaining the ability to hack and also being able to "push the button" in order to vote out who they want gives them a pretty gross advantage. That said, it does not ruin any enjoyment for the game - if anything, it's fun to watch the reactions of those playing the humans when they find out that they've been betrayed. X)

Joke Boat.

A very unusual premise from Jackbox with an interesting aesthetic theme, the premise of this game is to tell the funniest jokes whilst on a shoddy cruise liner. You'll be given a joke template that you must complete (such as the famous "How many ____ does it take to change a lightbulb?" joke) and then tell the others. At first glance, this seems a bit limiting. You just get a certain amount of templates. Luckily though, humans are a creative sort of creature so this doesn't become a problem at all. If anything, it's fun to see all of the different variations of the same joke template.

The naval aspect is one of the biggest draws. Captain Chuck (voiced by Kevin Sciretta) is not only an eccentric sort of naval officer, but he also is a terrible navigator. I mean, he keeps on crashing and sinking his ship against the same rubber duck in the final round! Additionally, he only offers a lifejacket to the winner, so everything else sinks with the ship. Utterly incompetent, but at the same time very memorable and entertaining. He also has a naval diary that pops up whenever you're finishing off tasks, so you can always get laughs out of it whilst waiting for others to finish off their jokes. I also like the idea of ventriloquist puppets being the player icons - normally ventriloquist puppets come off as creepy, but somehow the game makes them downright adorable.

A word of advice though - the tutorial plays an important role in this game as you'll be asked to come up with as many topics as possible. If you're able to do so, it makes the game even more enjoyable but if you're unable to do so, you can be very limited on what you can joke about. In a sense, this is another game that makes for a good first game on a Jackbox livestream if you want to flex your creative muscles.

Everybody Help Grandma.

This is what the menu screen would have looked like if the game had been released. Just look at all those pretty doilies! :D

Okay, this was actually an April Fool's Day joke that Jackbox did, but I still want to discuss it. Allegedly, the premise was that everyone would have to, well, help Grandma out with several chores. As the game has never been released (so far), we'll never know if the gameplay was that good or not, but the mock trailer for it is priceless. Ryan DiGiorgi does such a good job at making it sound as convincing as possible and actually made me want to see this become a real thing in the future.

Fun fact about the grandma in the menu screen - that was a character taken from the Jackbox Games Office Game Jam game Assisted Leaving, in which two old people must work together to get out of the assisted living building they are stuck in. The Jackbox Games Office Game Jam consisted of projects that Jackbox worked on that were not intended to be released to the public, but were instead ways for the staff members to try out jobs that they hadn't practiced before as well as ways to experiment with different game types. They've livestreamed some of the games on their channel if you want to check them out (here's the one for Super Crash Botherers and here's the one for Assisted Leaving and Walking Sim).


So yeah, that's all of Jackbox Party Pack 6 to discuss. In general, it's definitely one of the best out there. As I said earlier, TMP 2 is definitely the main highlight, but the other games are also very good with their own little quirks. Livestream wise, I would recommend starting yours off with both Dictionarium and Joke Boat (you can choose the order), before moving on to Push The Button and Trivia Murder Party 2 and then finally cooling down with Role Models, though you may have different ideas on what makes for the best livestream structure.

Overall, it's easy to see why the Jackbox Party Packs are so popular. They're extremely fun and varied, with different games appealing to different people. Let's hope that Jackbox Party Pack 7 keeps up the tradition! :D

Summer Loving? Yeah Right...

So I went on a long hiatus for a while before finally posting my review of the Jackbox Party Pack 5. Part of this can be blamed on the fact I had to finish a major dissertation for my Masters coursework (two picture books on serious and complex themes such as bullying and bereavement, plus a 7000 word reflective essay). But I have to be honest with myself, the summer holidays themselves played a huge role in it too, despite it supposedly being a time when you can relax (unless dissertations are involved, of course).

One of the earliest posts I made was why the winter season enhanced my mental health issues, with a small reference to the summer. Well, the summer season makes the winter season downright tame in comparison. At least I can cope with the cold temperatures that winter offers, as well as the fact that it comes off as rather peaceful at times when you're not stressing out about other things.

I could have posted this during the summer itself, but again, my mind was not in the right place at the time. Either way, here are a couple of points I'd like to make about the summer season itself.

Woeful Weather.

The weather is definitely the worst part. Most of the time, it's essentially hot weather that can turn into weeks of heatwaves. This also makes sleeping at night an absolute liability - I've had to toss off several layers just to cool down and it still wasn't enough at times. Oh well, at least 2020 was somewhat better than 2018 in that regard - that year, the heatwaves continued into early September.

Some people say that it's better in the summer than the winter because you simply turn on the air conditioning to sort it out. Well...I don't have that. To put it into perspective, the house I live in is a small one and my mum complains that air conditioning will just fan the heat all around the house. I don't share their sentiment, but that's the way our house has always been since then. Opening the windows sometimes makes it better, but then there's the risk of the outside being muggy and causing the rooms to get humid too.

And when it's not like that, you get the lightning storms outside. Thankfully, our house has not had a lightning-induced power cut in years, and there weren't as many this year, but there's still the fear that it may happen. This is despite the fact that I should be at least thankful for the fact that we're actually getting rain for once after the heatwaves.

Noisy Neighbours.

Two houses away from mine are a family with at least three kids. During the summer, they play outside more frequently, and it gets LOUD. This is another reason why I don't always keep the windows open. I could put on headphones to avoid having to hear them, but sometimes the audio on my laptop sounds less than stellar through them and my mental issues mean that I can be rather particular about what I want. Additionally, the kids sometimes get way too rowdy and it ends up with one of them crying as a result - mainly the youngest child.

Now I know some people will accuse me of being selfish for making this complaint, that these kids have a right to play outside. They do - but they don't have to be outright obnoxious about it with the screaming that makes me think that one of them got hurt. Besides, the neighbours who are part of the same semi-detached house as my family have children who play outside too and in a more responsible manner. They can get noisy at times too, but no screaming from them fortunately.

Anyway, that's my venting done. Thank goodness it's autumn now - the weather's a lot cooler and the neighbours will not be causing as much as a racket now. If anything, the fact that a pandemic was going on this year and limiting what people could go only served to remind me of the problems I just discussed. Somehow, it doesn't feel the same during the other seasons.

Recipe On How To Write Every Day

So yesterday was National Poetry Day, and I thought that I would upload another one of my poems. This is a recipe-themed poem and given the feedback I received for it, I feel that this may have been the one my tutor liked the best.

Recipe on How to Write Every Day:

The recipe of writing every day is simple.

All you need is:

One cup of visualisation.

Ten teaspoons of wordplay.

Twelve tablespoons of freewriting.

Something to write with. A pen or pencil or keyboard will do.

What you need to do?

Mix well and put on to heat for ten minutes. Once cooked, scrape any remaining writer's block off and serve instantly.

I feel like I won't need to explain this as much as my first poem, given that it isn't fanfic poetry this time. Anyway, I pretty proud with how this one turned out, especially since this was a format that I wasn't used to originally.