Month: January 1970

With a name like Future Hootenanny Overload I was sure this was going to be a “redneck” type website. Someone who just wun themselvs a knew comfuser thingamob and they were going to tell all of us what it was like being a redneck. Boy was I wrong.

Upon entering Future Hootenanny Overload I was greeted with what I thought was a splash page. But then I realized I could scroll down. This fake splash page has some rather large images, a brief bio about the author (how he lives on another planet, is an alien, etc), and then some more information about the site.

After scrolling down through the two pages of above stuff, I finally got to the blog. The blog is a Q and A type blog where people write into Mystic Hooligan (the author) and he answers them from an alien’s perspective. The site is broken down into categories: Spot a Human, Celebrity Deaths, Ask an Alien, Myth Busting, and more. My personal favorite was the Celebrity Death Requests as I thought these were very funny.

The design of the site could be improved. The two pages I have to scroll down no matter what page I am viewing, gets annoying quickly. The page is a two-column layout with all the links on the right. Normally I complain if I can’t see the archives in a date format and only in a category format, but this is the first site that it works for. It would still be nice however to get them in date format.

Overall I enjoyed my time at this blog. There are some things that the site could improve on (the design, getting rid of the two pages that I have to scroll down) but in general this site was worth visiting. I plan to come back to this site any time I need a good laugh.Future Hootenanny Overload

I for one, have always preferred your average weblog. By “average” I mean those weblogs that cast some light into the inner clockwork of individuals. They usually make fun reading.

This however is not your average weblog. Upon entering, you’re greeted with the catch phrase “the journal that’s all about you”. Read it some more and you’ll discover the blog is written by a fortune teller/alien who calls himself Mystic Hooligan. This alien has somehow managed to merge his consciousness with ours and offers a “unique insight” (his words) into human life. The blog is a Question-Answer site. You pose questions, Mystic Hooligan gives answers.

The site is composed of a large top flash banner reading “Future Hootenanny Overload” (this was very funny) and several paragraphs that give background information on Mystic Hooligan and the different sections of the blog. There’s also a separate link where you can read more about his planet.

The blog sections include “Spot the Non Human”, where you can ask Mystic Hooligan whether the person you’re curious about is in fact, human; “Ask an Alien for Advice”, where Mystic Hooligan answers your questions, “Celebrity Death Request”, where you can learn how your favorite celebrity will die; “Igoroscopes” or the Alien Horoscope, “My Daily Life”, where Mystic Hooligan gives his readers some tasks (like interpret his dream or guessing games) or just speaks of issues regarding his alien lifestyle, etc.

The template is white with three images (that take a rather long download time) to greet you. The side bar is at the right, with few links (no clutter there) that include: The Best of…, Special Features and other browse material related to Mystic Hooligan. There’s also a subscribe option.

The questions posed by the readers may be serious (most aren’t) and Mystic Hooligan
answers them with some witty entries of a tongue-in-cheek nature. The other blog sections are of course, odd; yet Mystic Hooligan somehow manages to be creative.

Summing up, the site is an internet curiosity. The author even encourages you to look for “silly” ways to occupy yourself while on it. I don’t disagree with the silly part. While Future Hootenanny Overload makes for amusing reading, I could not really relate to the site’s humor or its author.

Perhaps the site’s main disadvantage is that after a couple of reads, the concept wears out. Which is why I’m curious to see how Mystic Hooligan will manage to keep his readers interested.

In any case, it is a novel idea and if you like odd (and I mean very odd) sites, this is definitely one place you’ll like to browse through. And the author is pretty creative (for an Alien).

Being objective to the best of my abilites, I give the site a 3.5
Future Hootenanny Overload

Screen Rant. With a name like that I knew it had to be something about tv or movies. I was excited to read up on this so I dived right in.

Screen Rant is just that. One person’s opinions on what is going on with movies, tv, and more. I was immediately drawn into the site when the first post talked about CBS and everything that is going on with CSI right now. I was hooked. I just kept reading and reading and reading.

The design of the site is very simple; a two-column layout that I think was an old blogger template though I could be wrong. There is nothing fancy to this design, but there doesn’t need to be. This site is about reviews and thoughts and doesn’t need a design to back it up.

As I have stated numerous times, this is about movies and tv. My favorite posts were the movie reviews as they were very well done. I enjoyed re-living most of the movies through the authors own words on his reviews. The only downside to the content happens to also be my favorite thing. Since the movies are out, and most people have seen these, you may not want to read the archives. But it does leave you the reader wanting to come back for more.

Overall this is by far one of my favorite sites with regards to movies and tv. The author lets go of kissing butt and reports and reviews what should be. His perspectives on the movies is just that of an average person and not some “high paid” film critic. I look forward to coming back to this site for reviews of movies I plan to see.Screen Rant

I’m popping in here for just a few minutes to whip out this review. I’m in a bit of a rush you see, because I have to get back to reading ALL the archives at Screen Rant. Though my eyes are a little strained from reading white text on black background, I really want to finish them all off and then bookmark this site.

The page is simple in layout, not too cluttered and it’s easy to navigate. There is no about page so we know virtually nothing about our author, but trust me, in the case of this blog it doesn’t matter. He has been writing movie and TV reviews since November 2003. In the first months of this blog’s life, there were few entries, but as time has gone by, it seems our blogger has gotten his reviewing legs under him and posts much more frequently.

You are in for a treat at this site. I am not usually all that jazzed by movie and TV blogs. The ones I have run in to so far have either been incredibly boring and predictable opinion fodder or of the “Oh wow, you HAVE to see this AWESOME movie!” variety. Vic goes nowhere near these dreaded waters. Instead he writes insightful, detailed, reviews that are quite articulate and very readable.

I enjoyed his rather fresh perspective. There is an obvious love of cinema and good TV, but he is not afraid to tell us when he is disappointed and to clearly explain WHY he is. I found myself admiring the time he takes to really ferret out the reasons some things work in films and why they don’t. I mean it’s really easy to say, “I thought this film sucked.” But it takes discipline to explain exactly why. Without this added work, all we have is raw opinion. Which makes for very boring reading.

And I must say that of all the blurbs I have read about Fahrenheit 9/11, his was the most detailed and complete. I felt that I came away with a clear picture of what was actually presented in the film for the first time. I am trying to put my finger on what it is that makes his reviews so enjoyable to read, and I think a one-word description would be: honesty.
Things are not black and white to our author. The shades of gray are not only admitted to, they are explored.

I plan to bookmark this site and return often. It’s a pleasure to read a thoughtful writer’s work. And this site is a good example of such for any aspiring movie or TV critic.

Screen Rant

Upon arriving at Screen Rant I found an aesthetically simple, easy to read to read website. The content is mainly reviews, news and commentary involving various forms of entertainment, mainly TV and movies.

The author, Brian, is conscious of his reader, usually letting them know if there will be *spoiler* content within the review. Which is great…there is nothing worse than reading a review to see if it worth watching only to read the movie ends in the first paragraph.

As the website subtitle title says there is little ‘sugar coating’ within Screen Rant’s content. Brian writes straight-forward, down-to-earth prose which allows for a highly accessible and easily digestible content. Screen Rant’s articles are at times reflective, such as in this entry, which I couldn’t agree more with entitled ‘Talking in Movie Theatres’. (Indeed! My Gawd people shut-up!) There are also many thought provoking entries such as ‘The End of an Era?’ or ‘Is Hollywood really this bereft of ideas?’ or his personally introspective review of the Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’. To balance the serious, there are also some amusing entries such as ‘What would Simon Say?’ or ‘Green Lantern… a comedy??’.

There wasn’t a whole lot of content in the earlier months of Screen Rant but the author seems to have found his writing mojo in the past 2 or 3 months. The Sci-Fi reviews, movie content and commentaries are the most interesting entries… the numerous entries about American Idol were not… I would have preferred to read more reviews, articles or commentary other than another article on one of the various over hyped ‘Idol’ shows. The Michael Moore bashing also gets a little tiresome – ok, I get it – you don’t think Fahrenheit 9/11 is a documentary.

On the whole, there is a lot of great content at Screen Rant. There are even some embedded movie trailers and images that compliment the text and entries. If you’re looking for ‘another’ opinion on a film before you see it, Screen Rant is a good stop prior to renting or going to the theatre. The ‘topics’ link sorts things quickly and allows quick access to the meat of the site, the reviews. Well worth a bookmark to get some insightful entertainment talk.
Screen Rant