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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