Green Phoenix - Clear and Present Danger Review

Towards the end of last year, I had the pleasure of introducing the second episode of my Let's Talk... series of articles by speaking upon my opinions of adapting the Jack Ryanverse series of books by Tom Clancy. In that article, I mentioned my absolute adoration for the 90s Tom Clancy trilogy of films. Now I've written about The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games previously, so we have only one film left to go.

Released in 1994, Clear and Present Danger has always been a strange film when compared to the other two. One part political thriller and one part military action film, I found Clear and Present Danger the most difficult of the three films to get invested in personally, though the film sees the return of a stunning cast, as well as the introduction of Willem Dafoe as John Clark, a character to actually plays a fairly significant role in the Tom Clancy universe.

Despite being a financial success, this film would mark the end of the Tom Clancy film series until the release of the failed rebooted franchise in 2002's The Sum of All Fears, which I don't have to tell you isn't a very good film and was clearly impacted by the cultural fallout from 9/11.

Which now that I think about it, could really be a summation of the entire Tom Clancy cinematic history. A franchise of excellent political and military thrillers, done in by the inexorable shifting of global politics that drive their stories into obsolescence.

At least...that's what I was going to say until the days leading into the January 6th Capitol Insurrection showed me that apparently a movie about a lone government official combating unconstitutional and illegal activities perpetrated from the very highest offices of government for a personal agenda weren't completely ridiculous. This review was delayed weeks by the change in my review format as well as the shifting sands of the American political climate. It all coalesced to make me reconsider my position on the relevancy of Tom Clancy in an age where internal clear and present dangers are very real and far more deadly than even fiction can come up with.

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Ninja Sentai Kakuranger Ep 1: We Are Ninja - Summary/Review

 

It's the Alien Rangers and Season 3 of MMPR. But, actually it is the first of many Ninja Themed Super Sentai. Airing in Japan from 1994-1995 and staring the first female leader of a Sentai, Ninja White Tsuruhime. (Although, she doesn't get to stand center.) Click "read more" and let us take a look at what this trend setter season began with. Thank you Shout Factory for the free English subtitles.

Kaiser Kast #6 - Live From TNR Talks 2021

It's back!  The first new episode in a really long time.  Live from some made up... I mean live from a real convention.  It's the Retrokaiser live panel from TNR Talks '21.  In this episode I discuss games, suicide, and more pop-culture stuff.  Out in both audio and video forms.  Hell yeah!

Audio Download: Here

Minecraft(bedrock:ps4) Review

     Ah Minecraft, the game of games. This nostalgic open world survival game from 2008 has stuck around through thick and thin, even being popular to this day.  Minecraft is more popular than Jesus Christ himself. If you haven't heard of this game you must live under a rock... NO! You must live under a mountain if you don't know what Minecraft is.

 

Keystone Kapers (Atari 2600)

Like most Atari games, Keystone Kapers really has to be looked at in the context of the Atari era. Side scrollers were a new evolution in the platforming genre. Keystone Kapers came out in 1983. Only one year prior, in 82, David Crane's Pitfall was released and broke new ground with the platformer. Programmed by Garry Kitchen, who also programmed Pressure Cooker, Space Jockey and Donkey Kong on the Atari 2600, I see this as Garry's attempt at making a faster paced, and more liner version of the side scroller using the standard set by

Green Phoenix - Soul (2020) Review

 

 THIS ARTICLE SHOULD'VE BEEN RELEASED ON JANUARY 15TH. DUE TO SOME SORT OF ERROR, IT WAS NOT PUBLISHED AS SCHEDULED.

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Welcome everybody to my first proper film review of 2021.

Last week would've been the release of my review for Tom Clancy's 1994 film Clear and Present Danger but 2020 decided that it had a few more surprises left for the world and had to deliver them into 2021's hands. Suffice it to say, that review will be released in a couple weeks time once it has been re-contextualized to fit a post-Insurrection world.

Until then, the new plan is to start our reviews off with one of the few newly released films from the holiday season. Originally intended for a theatrical release, the global societal prolapse that was the coronavirus pandemic forced Disney/Pixar's Soul to be billed as the first Disney+ original film, a representation of what I believe may end up becoming the future of film releases even after theaters finally open back up once this pandemic eventually peters out.

This film was something of a mystery for quite a while. I enjoy learning about upcoming releases for films many years in advance and Soul was one of those films that was announced years ago, but was kept very much under the radar. But now that it is out, I have the wonderful opportunity to explore Pixar's latest emotional piece and see how it stands among Pixar's prodigious lineup.

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Mahin Sentai Kiramager Ep 3: You Fool! I Don't Need Your Help - Summary/Review

Alternative translation for the title

 Time to check out episode 3 of Kiramager thanks to TV-Nihon's free fansub. Last time, the Green Ranger learned to accept Juru as the leader and now it appears it is Blue's turn to get the focus of an episode. Click "read more" and let's see how they develop Shiguru.

Top 5 Hamburger Moments in Video Games

 

This is a very odd idea for a countdown, but one I have wanted to do for no other reason then a love of burgers and games. It is hard to really give "rules" for this list other then it has to be in a video game and something needs to have happened where a hamburger was an important factor. Why top 5? Simply because, that is all I could find in my experience. So, click "read more" and let us see what there is.

Green Phoenix - Clear and Present Danger Delayed until January 29th...WTF America!

 Hey everyone!

So this is a quick little update to let you all know that I will be delaying my review of the Tom Clancy film Clear and Present Danger until the 29th of January. Instead, next week I will be releasing my review of Disney/Pixar's Soul and the week after that, I will review The History of Swear Words from Netflix.

My reason for doing so is actually quite simple. It's all because of what happened yesterday. Yesterday, the US Capitol building was invaded by a band of domestic terrorists at the behest of President Trump. For the first time since 1814, the US Capitol fell, even if only for a few hours.

What happened yesterday was nothing short of an attempted coup and will represent in my mind a watershed moment for the coming decade. It is in this mindset that I believe a review of Clear and Present Danger must be completely overhauled to fit with a new and essential perspective. Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger is at its heart a story about moral defiance of unlawful governance. About a good man standing up against a corrupt American president and his lackeys. It is a story that somehow rings strangely contemporary given our current climate, and I think we need to really examine that.

But to do so will take time and I need to really give it some serious thought. Thus the delay until the 29th, at least by then the tyranny of Trump will be over in the de facto sense, even if it is far from over in the de jure sense.

I hope you all stay safe out there and hope that the lights and fires of change are soon on the horizon.

Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior DLC (Steam) - Review

 

This is an interesting form of DLC, one that causes a video game crossover between Viscera Cleanup Detail and the remake of Shadow Warrior. (Obviously.) Click "read more" and let's see what this combination has to offer.

Green Phoenix - 2020 in Review

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

And good riddance to hot garbage, I say. This year was a trying time for all of us and it is my sincere hope that my articles might have done something to provide entertainment or education for my readership.

As we enter 2021 with, hopefully, brighter expectations than 2020, I would like to take a quick analytical look-back on 2020 in terms of my articles and viewership. Though this year was far from ordinary, perhaps there remains things that I can improve upon and aid in making 2021 a better year than the shit-show we were given in 2020.

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