C.A. Milson's Blog, page 241
July 14, 2014
July 7, 2014
45th Birthday Gifts
May the force be with me, with these ever comfy Yoda slippers
R2D2 projection Alarm Clock
Filed under: About The Author/Contact Tagged: Birthday gifts, Yoda slippers 
July 6, 2014
Birthday Cake
Today is a very special day for yours truly. Today I turn 45 years old…..
A milestone indeed.
What better way to celebrate than a wonderful cake made by the people at Cake Haven. Thank you so much.
Filed under: Events Tagged: 3D Cake, Birthday
Movie Review – Noah (2014)
Noah (2014)
Stars: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins.
Directed By: Darren Aronofsky
IMDB Rating: 6.3
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My Tagline: Transformers meets Lord Of The Rings Meets Fantasy.
Plot: A man is chosen by his world’s creator to undertake a momentous mission before an apocalyptic flood cleanses the world.
Review: I wanted to see this movie for some time, and now that I have, I can only summarize that 1% of the movie is based on the Book of Genesis and the rest is fictitious crap. The film is very loosely based on the Flood origins, of that Noah with his wife and sons build an ark with the assistance of “Watchers”. In a world so corrupt that everyone (including Noah and his clan) must die.
Let me get onto the point of the “watchers” here for a second before I go on. The film depicts that these “watchers” were cast out of Heaven because they “helped” humanity. Now, I may not know the exact events that went down in Heaven when the “watchers” were kicked out, but I have read enough of scripture to know that the “watchers” (fallen angels) were anything but a bunch of ‘goodie-two-shoes’. (For reference read The Revelation Of John). Yes, there were giants in the land, but not what the film makes out. (See Genesis 6:4)
Methuselah – Supposedly he could interpret dreams and had a stash of Jack’s magic beans (Jack And The Beanstalk). There was one flashback part of Methuselah with the flaming sword. While the biblical account of Genesis does mention such a sword, the one who had possession of it was the Angel who guarded the gates of Eden. The sole job of that Angel was to prevent anyone getting back into the Garden to eat of the Tree Of Life. So for a human to come in the possession of that sword is highly unlikely.
Noah was a righteous man who walked faithfully with God. God spoke to Noah directly, not via Methuselah and certainly not by a hallucination. In the book of Genesis, it does give a clear indication of what transpired. In the account of Noah, each one of his sons had their own wife. However, in this film adaptation, only Shem has a wife. Another major plothole.
There were so many things wrong with this movie and completely inaccurate to what the Bible says what happened. While the acting was well done by Crowe, Watson, and Connelly, and the Flood scene was good, the rest of the film was a outright insult and a shipwreck of Titanic proportions.
Verdict: Save yourself the trouble and watch a Cecil B. DeMille classic instead.
My Rating: 3 out of 10 (1 point for each of the main actors)
Filed under: Movie Reviews Tagged: Darren Aronofsky, Emma Watson, Jennifer Connelly, Noah (2014), Russell Crowe 
July 5, 2014
Movie Review – Under The Skin (2013)
Under The Skin (2013)
Stars: Scarlett Johansson
IMDB Rating: 6.9
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Plot: A female alien comes to Scotland to replace a deceased alien. She drives a van through the roads and streets seducing lonely men to process their bodies. Soon the emotionless alien sees her human form in a mirror and she experiences the human emotions and feelings coming to a tragic discovery.
Review: Under The Skin… Some have said that this is an “artsy” film, some love it and some have said it stinks. While I have not read the book that this is based on, I will start by saying that this movie lacks any real plot or storyline whatsoever.
This movie has a run time of 108 minutes. I managed to get through around 45 minutes then had an absolute gutful of the tripe I was seeing. Sure, there are a couple of great nude scenes of Ms Johansson to titillate any red-blooded male, but even that was not enough to make me want to watch through to the very end.
The plot of this film is as plain as the the film itself. An alien in a seductive female skinsuit, drives around in a van, picking up desperate lonely guys with the promise of sex, only to be lead into a trap, as each man she picks up, she leads into a house (different one each time), where they sink into the floor, only later to have their insides sucked out to be food for later (or maybe to feed others on her home planet).
Although the nude scenes of Scarlett were enough to arouse curiosity, the film did little else to stimulate my mind. The acting in this movie was dry, dull and tiresome. It definitely gave me the feeling that Ms Johansson did this movie for the sake of doing of having an artsy film for her portfolio.
Verdict: Switch over the Species instead.
My Rating: 1 out of 10.
Filed under: Movie Reviews Tagged: Scarlett Johansson, Under The Skin (2013)
July 4, 2014
Undateable – TV Show Review
Undateable – TV Series. 2014 –
Created By: Adam Sztykiel
Stars: Chris D’Elia, Brent Morin, Bianca Kajlich, Ron Funches, David Fynn, Rick Glassman
IMDB Rating: 7.1
Storyline: Danny Burton is a 30-ish carefree single guy who has watched most of his friends move on to serious relationships. When his last remaining friend Shannon moves out to get married, Danny searches for a new roommate. A promising candidate is Justin, the owner of Black Eyes Bar in Detroit (frequently mispronounced “Black Guys Bar”). Justin and his friends – the nerdy Burski, oddball Shelly, and recently out-of-the-closet gay guy Brett – all have certain qualities that make them appear “undateable”. While Danny himself has good luck getting women into bed, he is unable or unwilling to form a lasting commitment with any of them. Danny’s attractive sister, Leslie, has similar fears about being undateable, having the “baggage” of being a mid-30s divorcee with children.
Review: One thing that turns me off sitcom’s is the repetitive laugh-tracks slammed in every 3 seconds. You know what I am talking about here. One of the characters will say or do something that is anything but funny, but the laugh-track is added anyway. Some shows I have seen go completely overboard on the laugh-track to the point of that is all you hear. Other shows (like this one) keep it to a good moderation.
I will admit that I have not seen the lead actor (Chris D’Elia) in any other show, but his performance in Undateable is quite hilarious. D’Elia plays the role of Danny. A 30-something guy who has no problem picking up women, and shares his “wisdom” with a group of ‘undateable’ friends. His roomy (and bestie), Justin (Brent Morin) owns a bar and not only struggles to keep his business above water (it is Detroit remember), but he has issues with trying to get (and then keep) a girlfriend. Then is Danny’s sister, Leslie. A divorced alcoholic who will sleep with any cute guy she sees, regardless if they are straight or gay. Then there’s Cleveland Brown, err I mean Shelly. Full of one-liners, with most of his gags centered around food. There’s Brett. The gay bartender who has trouble landing a boyfriend. Burski, the nerdy guy who has yet to experience sex, and lastly Sabrina, the narcissist ex-girlfriend of Danny, whose sheer existence is being a barmaid and delighting in any troubles that Danny has, and delivering lame one-liners.
Undateable is funny to a point, but for a so-called business owner, Justin shows no real sense of any business knowledge. At best, we see 3, maybe 4 patrons in any shoot. granted, this is a fictional show, but in real life the business would be bust in a matter of days. The show does remind me of Cheers, with the usual gang hanging out at the bar all the time, and makes you wonder just for a second; Do these people actually have jobs?
D’Elia comic deliveries will remind you of that of Pauly Shore, and maybe some antics of Jim Carrey. That said, this leader of the undateable pack will keep you entertained with his brand of humor for a good half hour. (With the exception of one episode where Danny and Justin tried to act like they were drunk, which they pulled off very badly)
Undateable does show some promise, and time will tell if it gets renewed for a second season.
Verdict: Every player needs a “Baby-bird”
Rating: 7 out of 10.
Filed under: TV Show Reviews Tagged: Baby Bird, Bianca Kajlich, Black Eyes Bar, Brent Morin, Chris D'Elia, Danny Burton, Undateable 
July 1, 2014
Smashwords Promotional from C.A.Milson
This month marks a milestone where yours truly turns 45 in a few days.
As part of the celebrations going on this month (and as part of the promos going on over at Smashwords), ALL titles by C.A.Milson will be FREE.
Come join the celebrations and get a FREE copy of any book from C.A.Milson.
Promo runs from July 1st thru July 31st 2014!
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CAMilson
Filed under: Events Tagged: C.A.Milson, Free Ebooks, July Promo, Smashwords, Smashwords promotions
June 15, 2014
Game Review – The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
Summary: It’s 1962. John F. Kennedy is the U.S. President and the Cold War has the nation gripped with fear – but a far more viscous and insidious enemy than communism is threatening America. Known only to a scant few, a covet government unit called The Bureau begins investigating and concealing a series of mysterious attacks by an alien enemy. As special agent William Carter, you make the decisions, pull the trigger and lead your squad in a third-person tactical shooter set within a high-stakes, covert war to defend the human race. The Bureau’s mission is clear – survive, adapt and overcome the enemy threat to protect the citizens from the truth.
Review: The Bureau: Xcom Declassified is definitely a game interesting enough to last me a chapter or two. After that I lost interest.
Early ’60s America is recreated as a golden era in American history, and then obliterated by an all-out alien invasion that only the fledgling XCOM organization can stop. As Agent William Carter, you command two other agents, who need constant babysitting throughout any firefight situations, and more often than not you’re the one doing all the shooting while your squad screams “I need healing over here!”
Scenery was interesting to a point, in that billboards around the towns reminded me of some of the scenery you will see in Fallout: New Vegas ( A game I highly recommend), and some of the aliens you will encounter do resemble Crypto (Destroy All Humans), but as far as anything else, that is where the game becomes dismal and bland.
The pace of combat is very uneven. Missions routinely throw you into back-to-back firefights with dozens of enemies that leave you short of ammo and barely hanging on to survive, and when you get killed by any one of the dozens of enemies, you will start back at the last auto-check-point.
My point of interest in this game lasted until the Gunship battle and that was enough for me.
Gameplay/Storyline: 3 out of 10.
Scenery: 7 out of 10.
Filed under: Gaming Reviews Tagged: The Bureau: Xcom Declassified
May 30, 2014
Movie Review – After (2012)
After (2012)
Stars: Steven Strait, Karolina Wydra
Directed By: Ryan Smith
IMDB Rating: 5.7
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Plot: When two bus crash survivors awake to discover that they are the only people left in their town, they work together to unravel the truth behind the strange events.
Review: This film was somewhat started out unusual. The whole story revolves around the two main characters Ana (Karolina Wydra) and Freddy (Steven Strait).
The film begins with Freddy and Ana striking up an awkward conversation on the bus. Two strangers, separated by their own insecurities but as it turns out that, they are neighbors. Just when that awkwardness between them drops, the bus is in an accident. When Ana and Freddy wake up, they find themselves in their own homes, and soon discover that they are the only two people left in their town.
At first thought, one could be forgiven to think that everyone in town had been taken up in the rapture, but that thought left as fast as it came when flash scenes from their childhood start to come into play. Such as the scene in the coffee shop when Ana realizes that no-one can see or hear her, and as it turns out, the people they encounter along the way are nothing more than memories.
From here, things start to get weird as a strange dark fog encompasses the town, and a monster is in the darkness waiting for them. When you realize the fog surrounds the town, one would start to think about the similarities to “The Undead“, or “Under The Dome“, but, unlike the mentioned film and TV show, this darkness, this fog, is slowly moving towards town, engulfing everything in it’s path.
With not that many options for Freddy and Ana, will they discover what is really going on, or will they succumb to the fog and the monster that is hunting them down?
That, folks, is something you will have to find out for yourself and watch this indie thriller flick.
Some good performances from the actors, and a good script. Well worth watching.
My Rating: 8 out of 10.
Filed under: Movie Reviews Tagged: After (2012), Karolina Wydra, Steven Strait
Movie Review – Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973)
Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973)
Stars: John Wayne; George Kennedy; Gary Grimes
IMDB Rating: 6.4
Plot: J.D. Cahill is the toughest U.S. Marshal they’ve got, just the sound of his name makes bad guys stop in their tracks, so when his two young boy’s want to get his attention they decide to rob a bank. They end up getting more than they bargained for.
Review: It is not often that I will sit and watch a western. Just not my thing. However, in the case of J.W. I will always make an exception :) John Wayne stars in this Western as J.D Cahill, a no nonsense Marshal who takes no bullshit from anyone who breaks the law.
Although this film was not one of JW’s better acclaimed films, this is still a good watch for anyone who enjoys watching JW in his element, with his quick one-liners (Mister, I ain’t got a bigoted bone in my body. You don’t drop that axe I’ll blast you to hell as quick as I would a white man), and taking out the bad guys in his own style.
If you’re a fan of the Duke, sit back and watch this one.
My Rating: 7 out of 10
Filed under: Movie Reviews Tagged: Cahill U.S. Marshal, John Wayne, Westerns
