The Best Parks and Recreation Episodes

This list was initially going to entail a list of only 7 episodes but this is Parks and Recreation. In preparation for a life without Parks and Rec, I decided to share all my favorite episodes. We could argue which episode is "best" but that idea then didn't sit well with me since every episode has a special place in my heart. These are just more special to me personally. Here are 7 Honorable Mentions: Greg Pikitis, Ron and Tammy, Media Blitz, Ron and Tammy: Part Two, Ron and Tammys, Ron and Diane, The Cones of Dunshire, Flu Season 2

Parks and Recreation Finale: Thank You

"Crying is acceptable at funerals and the Grand Canyon" - Ron Ulysses Swanson

After tonight, I'm going to add an asterisk in the quote so I may include the Parks and Recreation finale for acceptable crying occasions.

The Amazing Spider-Man Series Obituary: What It Got Right

IT'S OFFICIAL: SPIDER-MAN IS HEADING TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

You've definitely heard about this already. So in honor of this joint announcement from Sony and Marvel, we can all finally look back at those "Amazing" Spider-Man movies that maybe just weren't too good. Like, at all. Okay that's not true. It would be ignorant of me to say there were no good aspects to these products. But man, there were just so many negatives.

The movie's feel like a shorthand; Using audience knowledge of Raimi films or comic book lore to explain why character A uses a certain variable to get to the next notecard plot before conflicting with character B. They try to cover it up with some sloppy dialogue but at least nobody really bought it this time. Before overhead, ASM2 made around $65 million. They predicted a billion dollar franchise would spawn from these movies. Kinda screwed the pooch (possibly several) on that one.

Andrew Garfield won't be suiting up as webhead outside of roleplaying in the bedroom with Emma Stone, so don't feel bad for him. He's still dating Emma Stone. He'll be alright. Drew Goddard isn't confirmed to be out but he's sort of in the wind (remember that time Sinister Six was supposed to start filming around January?). It's still sort of a mess but I just wanted to take this time to look back at the potentially great, but not really, Amazing Spider-Man franchise to appreciate what it got right:

Man of Steel v. Character Empathy

Man of Steel will soon be two years old and it continues to polarize audiences everywhere. I've been torn every which way when it comes to this movie. There were single aspects I really liked (first flight, Cavill owning the role), with others I hated (the last 45 minutes), and everything in between. I recently had the opportunity to re-watch Man of Steel in an attempt to finalize all my thoughts on the movie. I remained objective as possible. I won't give the time of day to comic book comparisons because this is first and foremost a movie (a mention here and there may slip in). Putting aside all previous grievances and positives, I decided to take a good hard look at what does and doesn't work inside the context of Man of Steel.

The Flash: Fallout Review

WOAHOHOHOHO. So THAT happened. We'll get to the big moments in a minute. Who am I kidding? This whole episode was a big moment. So if you weren't caught up on the greatness of The Flash, get caught up, and come back here.

Cowboy Bepop Episode 3: Honky Tonk Women Review

A common noir trope is the idea of coincidence. Most stories mistake the use of coincidence with suitable plot progression (it isn't) unless there is a reason for character to A to head to location 1 and bump into character B. Quentin Tarantino uses coincidence as a device in all of his movies to astounding effect. The finale of Inglorious Basterds is a plan that was stripped down to a crazy-random-happenstance of character motivations and alternate history. It works beautifully among his tapestry of B-movie pleasures.

The heart of Session #3 in Cowboy Bepop is the extreme coincidence's perpetuated by misunderstandings and the Bepop crew just having the shittiest luck in the galaxy.

Throwback Thursday: Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe (From Worst to Best)

Back when this whole Waffle Press thing began, there was a small indie movie that came out called Iron Man 3. It was divisive but I had some strong feelings on the subject. So I wrote a review for it HERE. That didn't quench my thirst for exploring more aspects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So naturally I began ranking the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Avengers: Age of Ultron making its way to theaters soon, let's look back at which Marvel movies top our list.

(I'll give you a hint: it's not Iron Man 2)

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Why John Diggle Shouldn't Be Green Lantern

With all these heroes suiting up on Arrow this season, and surely more to come, one of the biggest fan theories is the true identity of John Diggle. Many people want to see him suit up as the Green Lantern, full with a reveal that his name is actually John Stewart. While I'm all for seeing Stewart appear in the series, and was even on board with this theory for a while, I've come to realize that this would be a terrible mistake.

The Flash: The Nuclear Man Review

WOAH. If this was old-school TV, there would have been a "To be continued..." tag at the end of this bad boy. The Flash is still going strong and moving at a speed comfortable for audiences while still allowing characters to grow and stories to develop. AND HOLY SHIT THAT CLIFFHANGER. There some (possibly unintentionally) awesome homages tonight. Let's play catchup with The Flash.

SPOILERS BELOW

Cowboy Bepop Episode 2: Stray Dog Strut Review

This was a fun one. The follow up to the first episode of Bepop doesn't pose any philosophical questions or examines the loneliness of Spike and Jet's lives aboard the Bepop. Like, at all. It's just a good time. It does showcase the more fun side of the series with the traditional "snatch and grab" setup so many episodes choose to focus on.

Psycho-Pass Series Review

I’m not as adverse to anime as my friend Diego is. As a matter of fact, I love anime. For every series that is overloaded with mindless fanservice and repetitive monologues of friendship, there is a series that is extremely well written and makes full use of the various elements that anime as a medium has to offer. Fortunately, Psycho-Pass is the latter type of series.  It’s not quite the perfect anime like Cowboy Bebop, but this is definitely one of the better animes to come out in recent years. I will break down the many pros that make this series great and the few cons that keep it from reaching those god tier anime series.

The Waffle Press Hangout 1) Hannibal with EmmightySofia

Last month, I announced Hannibal as my favorite show of 2014. I fully stand by that claim. I stand by that claim so much that I brought on the first guest for The Waffle Press Hangout EmmightySofia to discuss everything good about the show. We've come to the conclusion that Bryan Fuller is a genius. Check out the video below and don't forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Arrow: The Canary Trilogy Review

Diego and Nick recap/review The Canary Trilogy of Arrow Season 3. For every five things the show gets right, it gets one or two things so, so wrong. It’s starting to become an issue so we talk about it.
 

7 Potential Sequels to John Wick

John Wick is a great action movie. It's ALMOST the best action film of 2014. The Raid 2, Edge of Tomorrow and Captain America: The Winter Soldier happened but it's almost there!

Well the creators of John Wick are working on plans for a sequel (please dear God make this happen). Here's what they had to say:

One Week Later: Arrow 3x11 'Midnight City' Review

Guess who needs to start posting these episode reviews earlier? This writer does. I haven't quite failed the city but I have failed these blog posts. Arrow continues a hot streak of episodes as Oliver Queen remains in hiding and Brick begins his takeover of The Glades.

Diego Watches: Daredevil Trailer is Dark & Gritty With Proper Context

I fucking hate the mass attempt at giving every pop culture hero a dark and gritty reboot. It's partly why I relish the Marvel Cinematic Universe so much. But I can't help but salsa this trailer, even when it's essentially the same tone that caused my issues with the Ant-Man and Fantastic Four trailers (though those also didn't tell us much about the stories they wanted to tell). The difference is that a character like Matt Murdock/Daredevil thrives in this world. His home, Hell's Kitchen, is was a notoriously terrible area to live in. Modern Hell's Kitchen is no longer riddled with crime and even got a name change (which I can't remember and can't be bothered to look up). The series will still take place in the same location so I wonder how they'll handle the switch. Now, time to gush about my favorite things in the trailer.

The Flash 1x12 Crazy for You Review

The Flash continues to be the most enjoyable outlet of superhero entertainment this side of the MCU. Barry and Team Flash go after a modern Bonnie and Clyde – if Bonnie was the equivalent of Nightcrawler from the X-Men. There's not much to say. It just fires on all cylinders. It's fun and exciting and pretty emotional. But I'll try to be moderately professional here and get into this super stuffed episode of The Flash.

SPOILERS BELOW

Cowboy Bepop Episode 1: Asteroid Blues Review

I'm not the biggest anime fan. There are far too many series with an inherent fetishization of weird kinks that stops me from fully getting behind shows with some admittedly cool ideas. So when I tell you that Cowboy Bepop is on par with Firefly, The Godfather, Unforgiven, and Breaking Bad, I need you to know how crazy it is for me to say this. Granted, I haven't gone that far in the series yet. I only made it to My Funny Valentine before starting this breakdown/recap of each the series.