Your Humble Blogger Signing Off

      Well guys we've had a long run. The blog has evolved in many ways and become way greater than I ever expected it to. I've worked for So Danca for a long time now and though my time here has been one filled with good memories all good things must come to an end in order for new and better things to come about. I will be stepping down from my position here and therefore will no longer be posting articles in this blog. I have no idea if I'll start another blog yet or not but if I do it will no longer be under any company or sponsor and therefore it would have more freedom when it comes to articles and such. Don't know if that will occur yet or not but for now this is goodbye. As I planned this final post various ideas came to mind, but one stuck out the most, a last goodbye post featuring some things in my life that are going on. Alas we here we go.

     I've always had a dream about pursuing graduate school in the area of theology. Specifically I'll be attending a seminary program at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, well, I hope, I'll find out for sure if I'm accepted or not in November, hopefully I'll get some good news then. The blog will continue though so rest assured that there will be articles here in the days to come. Our company's very own Anne Polajenko will be taking over as author, she happens to be a pointe shoe expert and therefore the blog might start taking a more dance oriented turn. Change is good and I hope that under her care this blog will continue to flourish as it has over this past year and a half.

      Leaving a blog is a strange feeling. It's like breaking up with a girlfriend. You share good times with her and bad, you experience her grow and invest countless hours of your time making sure that she continues to be a success. Leaving a blog and giving it to someone else it like breaking up with someone and telling them that the next guy will make her just as happy as you did and that everything will be ok. I guess this feeling is the same for anyone who has worked on a project for a long time and then passed it on to someone else. In this case though I do feel a comfort in knowing that Anne will be taking this over and under her capable hands I am sure that this blog will grow in various ways.

    As for last recommendations, go watch "Seven Psychopaths", probably the best movie in theaters right now. This weekend "Wreck-It-Ralph" will be coming out and that also looks really good so keep that in mind, while not forgetting that in two weeks "Skyfall" (the new Bond movie) comes out and that definitely looks amazing. As for TV shows I recently got the chance to watch a BBC show "Misfits", seasons one and two being amazing and three and four losing it's stride significantly, but worth giving a look for sure. If you are an anime fan I would recommend "Sword Art Online" which happens to be amazing, best anime series I've seen in a while. As for games, I've not had a chance to play "Dishonored" yet but all that have played it love it, a fun one to check out it seems. I recently gave Hulu + a second chance, and honestly I fell in love with it, ads still get on my nerves but you can't have everything.

     If you are a book lover "Name of The Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss is still my favorite book, I recommend it over all others. If you read comic books and have not read "The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman then do yourself a kindness and read it, it's the best thing since ice cream. Disney bought Star Wars, random but I thought you should know, I wouldn't be surprised if the next movies are better than Episodes 1 through 3, but that could be just my fan boy hope speaking. On that topic "Empire Strikes Back" is my favorite movie of all time, another random fun fact but it seemed to fit the genre. A TV side note, "Once Upon A Time" has been amazing this season, way better than expected, I recommend you give this show a chance for sure.  And one last "Dr. Who" shout out is in order, I love this show, best show on TV, check it out if you have the chance.

    And so we've come to a close. This is goodbye folks,we've had quite a ride and I'll miss posting articles for you all. I will be publishing a book one day so look out for that. If you have facebook and want to add me feel free to do so, I mostly post memes on there but sometimes good relevant new projects pop up from time to time. I love you all and will miss being around, go and live a life worth reliving.

 See you around.

    Love from your humble blogger,

              Mario Ransan

Mario's Movie Meter or MMM Explained

    I recently got to experience something that all bloggers dream would occur to them, I met one of my readers in real life and got some real life critique and input on what I should write more about, what I should change, improve and so forth, let's call him MC for writing purposes. So MC was talking about the movie reviews, how they were missing something crucial, a rating system. MC went on to describe the many different ways one could go about creating a rating system and stated that without one the whole of the review just seemed lacking, like there was no real conclusion because in the end the reader doesn't really know what the rating really means. This troubled me and I had to concede that he had a point, and it spawned a conversation on names for this epic meter, MC came up with the triple M, Mario's Movie Meter, I instantly loved it, it's simple, and catchy, it's not fancy and corny, thus I was down. So without further ado here is an explanation of the Triple M, may this be your guide for all future movie reviews done in this blog in the future.

   MMM Rating: Instant Classic (I.C.)

     
  Sometimes in rare days, usually over the summer, there comes a movie that not only stands out among the rest but elevates itself to such a level that it cannot be rated anything but an Instant Classic. This is a rare occurrence and will not be a rating you'll see used much, but it does exist. The movies within this list are not perfect movies, these movies are not like the 5 star movies in dealing with how Oscar worthy the  movie was, these movies are in a different scale. Key examples are movies like "The Godfather", "Star Wars", "The Big Lebowki", all three movies differ in genre and style, and all three movies have their flaws, but all three movies are classics, they are beyond the five point scale, these are the movies that will live on forever and deserve much more respect.

   MMM Rating: 5/5

   The best way to describe a five star movie is to name a few titles that best encompass this particular rating, movies like "Shawshank Redemption", "Gladiator", "American Beauty", "Shakespeare In Love", "Midnight In Paris" and "Saving Private Ryan" are all a good balance of what a five star movie looks like. These are the movies that capture us, that dominate our souls for the whole two hours of showtime. Not only are these movies well directed and written, but these movies have a fantastic cast of brilliant actors and actresses that have come together to create gold. Five star movies are the type that you buy and add to your collection, the type you defend when someone speaks ill of it, the one you feel attached to even after just watching it from the theater. A five star rating is a big deal.

  MMM Rating 4/5

     A good example to define this rating is "The Book Of Eli". The movie has a good cast, a good theme, it has everything one needs in order to have a successful movie but in the end it leaves you craving for a little more, a little lack of cheese at times or a little more background on the theme we are seeing. These movies are great, amazing even, these are the ones you definitely go watch in theaters and maybe add it to your collection of movie if the price drops under fifteen dollars. Though these movies are great and though they capture your attention, they just lack the necessary magic found in five star rating movies, it isn't a big deal though, you enjoyed yourself all the way through, it was a good time, just not a stellar "I'm going to watch this movie ten more times" kind of vibe.

  MMM Rating 3/5

     "The Amazing Spiderman" is a perfect example of a three star movie. It's a movie with a good cast but not a great one, with a nice story not a brilliant one, which entertains you fully but does not wow you in any way, it's definitely the kind of movie you would watch again if it came on TV but would think twice before buying unless you found it at a Walmart five dollar bin, this doesn't speak ill of the movie, it just means that this was a fun movie but not a great one, it contained all the elements one would need in order to be entertained for the duration of the movie but afterward there was no firework that went off in your soul, there wasn't this need to watch this again or talk about it insensibly. These are still good movies, in a "nice" sense, you will never see a three star movie win an Oscar, but you will be entertained when they come on TV on a Saturday afternoon and relieve you of your boredom.

  MMM Rating 2/5

        For this category just include *every Jason Statham movie here* and you'll come to understand what it takes to be a two star movie. These movies aren't good, they don't have a good plot, the acting is overdone and cheesy but even though the movie itself isn't fantastic you still are entertained by what is happening on the screen. Let's take "Crank" for example, the movie is absurd, Jason is playing himself again and killing everyone in sight, he jumps from cars, he gets banged up to a ridiculous degree and still wins in the end, it's obnoxious from beginning to end, and in the end of it all there is still an enjoyment that can come from watching it. Mind you, this is not the type of movie one would buy, or re-watch at the theaters, that's for sure, but this is one of those movies that even though it violates everything a good movie should be, it still entertains you, even at a primal level. So, two star rating, think Jason Statham.

   MMM rating 1/5

     I personally think that one star movies are the hardest to pin down, for there are clear choices of movies that are one star and some that should get negative stars, but for the sake of keeping this rating system reasonable I'm going to lump "Chupacabra Massacre", "Gigli", "Troll 2" and "Furry Vengeance" all into this singular rating. These are the movies that are so bad that you can't help but walk out of the theater and get your money back. There is only one place that I can see these movies being any "good" ( I use that term loosely in this example) and that is if you are having a "bad movie night" with some friends and want a bad enough movie that it entertains you all while giving you some laughs in the process. This is the bottom of the barrel, it's a rating I wish I could use sparingly, but Hollywood does like to produce garbage so it can't be helped.

   So this concludes the explanation to the triple M scale, from now on I'll include a link to this article in every movie review ever posted here, just in case you need a reference to what I mean when I say a movie is a three star MMM movie. The scale has been set, now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

   Love from your humble blogger,