Tag: assassin

What To Watch On YouTube Right Now – Part 134

What To Watch On YouTube Right Now – Part 134

carlocarrasco

Welcome back my readers, YouTube viewers and all others who followed this series of articles focused on YouTube videos worth watching.

Have you been searching for something fun or interesting to watch on YouTube? Do you feel bored right now and you crave for something to see on the world’s most popular online video destination?

I recommend you check out the following videos I found.

#1 Resident Evil: Apocalypse Reviews, Retrospective And Reaction Videos – After watching the 2002 live-action Resident Evil movie, I left the cinema feeling unsatisfied as it did not have much related to the popular video game series. That film succeeded enough to justify the production of the sequel Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and the first reveal of Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine (based on her appearance in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis) caught my attention. The reveal of Raccoon City getting hit by the zombie apocalypse and the casting of Oded Fehr as Carlos Oliviera (another RE3 character) interested me. In September 2004, I saw Resident Evil: Apocalypse on opening day in the local cinema and I was entertained for the most part. The Milla Jovovich-led film was indeed flawed, but it was an enjoyable improvement over its 2002 predecessor. How Resident Evil: Apocalypse fares with the YouTubers is something you must see.

#2 The Planned California City That Failed – Have you ever heard of Salton City? It was a planned city in the state of California located along the Salton Sea. It was designed as a resort community capable of supporting forty thousand residents, and it was to have the complete systems of water, roads, sewer and energy. Salton City is a ghost town and the in-depth YouTube video I found will help you realize its history and why development failed.

#3 Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire Game Revisited – Back in the mid-1990s, George Lucas’ entertainment group launched the Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire multi-media project which told what happened between the movies The Empire Strike Back and Return of the Jedi. The said project was huge even though there was no live action Star Wars movie involved. A Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire novel was released which became the foundation of a comic book adaptation (read my retro reviews here and here), a video game, toys, action figures and merchandise. The video game of Shadows of the Empire was a joint project between LucasArts and Nintendo and its release on Nintendo 64 drew a lot of attention back then. The game itself made gamers – both Star Wars fans and casual gamers – want to get an N64 to play the game. I recently found two in-depth retrospective videos about Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire on N64 and I encourage you all to watch them.

#4 The Embarrassing Woke NDP Of Canada – Have you ever heard about the New Democratic Party? Referred to as NDP for short, New Democratic Party is a very leftist and woke political party in Canada and it had a really bad result in the 2025 federal election. Recently, the NDP had its leadership election and what happened in late March saw a series of awkward and embarrassing moments during their big event. In the videos below, you will see why political correctness, identity politics and wokeness are bad to have, and they made the internal processes of the NDP hard to pull off. In fact, diversity and inclusion zealotry have caused divisions within the NDP’s convention. What happened was funny to watch and it was not a comedy at all.

#5 Elderly Japanese Women And Their Beloved Restaurants – In Japan, many Japanese people live really long lives. Among them are elderly people who are active and managed to make an impact on others. That said, there are two elderly Japanese women who excelled in cooking meals and managing restaurants, and what they offer will impress you. I urge you all to watch the Nippon TV feature below.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

What To Watch On YouTube Right Now – Part 133

What To Watch On YouTube Right Now – Part 133

carlocarrasco

Welcome back my readers, YouTube viewers and all others who followed this series of articles focused on YouTube videos worth watching.

Have you been searching for something fun or interesting to watch on YouTube? Do you feel bored right now and you crave for something to see on the world’s most popular online video destination?

I recommend you check out the following videos I found.

#1 The Ring Reaction Videos – When The Ring (an American remake of the 1998 film Ringu) was released in cinemas in 2002, it had a huge impact on many moviegoers as it scared them and made them think that Asian horror can be adapted by Western filmmakers to entertain a larger, English-oriented audience worldwide. In fact, The Ring sparked a wave of American remakes of established horror films from Asia. The movie also made Naomi Watts a movie star. There are viewers who enjoyed the subtle yet creepy approach to horror by the 2002 film and there are those who find it superior to the Japanese original. How The Ring impacts the following YouTubers through their reaction videos below is a must-see.

#2 Batman versus Predator Revisited – Back in the early 1990s, I saw issues of the huge crossover mini-series Batman versus Predator displayed on shelves on local comic book stores, and each one cost a lot of money! Looking back at the crossover, there definitely is a lot of things about it that justify the high cover price. Some comic book enthusiasts say that Batman versus Predator is the best crossover comic book story to feature the Predator while there are others who said that Batman is the perfect superhero to be matched against the sci-fi movie icon. To understand how Batman versus Predator came to be, watch the retrospective video below.

#3 Project Sylpheed Examined – First released in Japan in 2006, Project Sylpheed was a science fiction shooter game that was released by Square Enix exclusively on the Xbox 360 console. I always wanted to play that game’s English version (released in 2007) but I never had the opportunity to buy it. Project Sylpheed was the third game of its franchise and it was the successor to the original Silpheed game of the 1980s. Believe it or not, the game still looks great by today’s standards and the vibrant colors and stylish visual elements made it stand out nicely among 3D shooters. To see what Project Sylpheed is about and why is it still enjoyable to play, watch the video below.

#4 Ranting For Vengeance Slams Jon Bernthal’s Punisher And The Woke Mob – When I first think about the Punisher who first appeared in comics long ago, I think of a very hard-edged vigilante who wages a dangerous war against criminals on his own terms. In the 21st century, we now have a live-action Punisher who drifted away from his comic book legacy and woke Disney now fully dictates Marvel Comics. Along the way, the current Punisher actor Jon Bernthal is woke and supports the LGBTQ community and its agenda. Ranting for Vengeance recently posted a video slamming Bernthal’s Punisher and the woke mob, and you can find out more by watching it below.

#5 Rice Ball Craze In Japan – In Japan, rice balls are popular and there is nothing like the enjoyment of consuming rice with seaweed wrapping and ingredients mixed in. From time to time, rice balls get discounted and there is always an influx of buyers who pursue them with good taste and better value in mind. Even foreign tourists can take advantage of the discounts of rice balls. Watch and learn from the Nippon TV video below.

#6 Orion Pictures Revisited – When I was very young, there were some notables movies I saw that involved Orion Pictures in more ways than one. Some movies the Orion produced (or co-produced) that were memorable to watch include Caddyshack and Excalibur. Other memorable films distributed by Orion include Platoon, RoboCop, The Terminator, First Blood and The Silence of the Lambs to name some. Before Orion even started as a movie business, there were notable events in Hollywood history that led to its founding. Watch and learn from the retrospective video below.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

What to watch on YouTube right now – Part 27

What to watch on YouTube right now – Part 27

carlocarrasco

Welcome back, my readers, YouTube viewers and all others who followed this series of articles focused on YouTube videos worth watching. Have you been searching for something fun or interesting to watch on YouTube? Do you feel bored right now and you crave for something to see on the world’s most popular online video destination?

I recommend you check out the following topics and the related videos I found.

#1 John List true crime documentaries – In America, the late John List is one of the most notorious criminals ever in their history. At a very desperate point in his life, List murdered his own family members in 1971 and it took some time for the local authorities to find out what he left behind in their huge home. Having left his home and investigators behind, List traveled across the nation, came up with a fake identity and lived away from the law for almost twenty years. How the law enforcers tracked him down (involving America’s Most Wanted TV show) and arrested him is a great story to follow. All of these are documented in the two videos below.

#2 The Stepfather explanatory video by GoodBadFlicks  – Believe it or not, the story of John List inspired the creation of the 1987 psychological horror film The Stepfather. This video by YouTuber GoodBadFlicks is a must-see.

#3 The assassination attempt on US President Donald Trump – I really cannot ignore the assassination attempt on US President Donald Trump which resulted in the injury on his right ear, the death of a campaign rally attendee and one other person getting injured. Whatever your political views are, this is a tragedy and it clearly was not staged. It was indeed an attempt to kill and already the Satanic Leftist mainstream news media are distorting the facts and lying to you. To get clear insight on what happened and who the suspect (a very young guy who was a registered Republican voter who also donated money to support Democrats and far-left movement), watch the selected videos below.  

#4 HolyLandSite’s Mount of Olives video – Recently, the YouTube channel HolyLandSite published their newest video featuring the Mount of Olives in Israel. I personally visited some of the sites at the Mount of Olives featured in this video and in my experience, I witnessed the Holy Bible come to life and gained insight on what the place was like during the time of Lord Jesus. Mount of Olives was where Lord Jesus last stepped on before ascending into Heaven and He will arrive there sometime in the future. Watch the video below.

#5 Capcom’s failed case against Data East over Fighter’s History – Remember how popular Street Fighter II was in the arcades in the 1990s? Capcom made tons of profit from SFII which led to the production of sequels, spin-offs and other 2D fighting games that followed. Of course, as the fighting game genre became tremendously popular, there were other fighting games that competed with Capcom’s creations. Believe it or not, Capcom sued Data East alleging that their competitor’s game Fighter’s History infringed the copyright of Street Fighter II. To find out what happened, watch the video from Top Hat Gaming Man below.

6. Donald Trump nominated again by Republicans for President of the United States – By the time you are reading this, the 2024 Republican National Convention has concluded a few days ago. Donald Trump has been nominated again for US President by the party, only this time the Republicans are very united and they were reinvigorated arguably because of the failed assassination attempt on their candidate. The Democrats meanwhile are divided and already their powerful members stopped supporting the re-election campaign of Joe Biden. The contrasts between the two parties are so great during the last week. If you want to see all the Republican speeches and the nomination acceptance speech of Trump (whose running mate is US Senator J.D. Vance), watch the Republican National Convention (night 4) below.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

A Look Back at Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974)

A Look Back at Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974)

carlocarrasco

Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1970s arts and culture enthusiasts, Marvel Comics fans and comic book collectors! Today we go back to the year 1974 to examine a highly significant tale from Marvel Comics’ shared universe – the first appearance of the Punisher and his first-ever encounter with Spider-Man.

To put things in perspective, Punisher’s literary debut was told within the Amazing Spider-Man comic book series and it happened not too long after the legendary tragedy of Gwen Stacey. During the 1970s, Hollywood made and released several action movies and crime thrillers that were violent, gritty and highlighted vigilantes and assassins. Some of that influence somehow made it into Marvel’s shared universe which was symbolized creatively through the Punisher who debuted as an assassin.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at Amazing Spider-Man #129, published in 1974 by Marvel Comics with a story written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Ross Andru (the same creative duo behind Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man crossover).

The cover.

Early story

The story begins inside a private facility an assassin wearing black with a huge skull on his upper body heavily damages a solid statue of Spider-Man using a powerful rifle. This impresses the hideous villain called the Jackal who tells him that if he does well with the real Spider-Man, he would have performed a great service for the world. Knowing he impressed the Jackal, the Punisher states that he will only kill those who deserve killing and he expresses his belief that the webslinger deserves to die.

Elsewhere, Spider-Man swings into action and successfully stops an armed robbery from happening. Along the way he managed to capture photographs, changes into his civilian clothes and enters the Daily Bugle’s office ready to submit the roll of film as Peter Parker. Unfortunately, his superior J. Jonah Jameson disregards Parker’s submission and points out that the Punisher made waves with New York’s readers via the Bugle’s competitor The New York Star. For Jameson, the Punisher is only the most newsworthy thing to happen to New York and tells Parker he wants photos of the assassin…

Quality

This is a scene from the first of two encounters between Spider-Man and the Punisher who was introduced as an assassin.

To make things very clear about storytelling without spoiling plot details, this is a tale about intrigue and the darker side of society that involves vigilantes and murdering. The Punisher here did not debut as a crime-busting vigilante but rather an assassin who accepts assignments from clients as long as the jobs fall in line with his personal philosophy that focuses on taking the lives of those who deserved to be killed. That being said, it is clear that Hollywood’s vigilante flicks of the 1970s influenced the presentation and I can say that whenever the story focuses on the Punisher, there definitely is a grim tone which contradicts the tone of Spider-Man’s scenes.

Spider-Man here continues to struggle somewhat with his personal life having recently lost Gwen Stacey while remaining disturbed about the identity of the Green Goblin. The webslinger also has to live with the heavy situation in which a lot of people in New York were convinced that he killed Norman Osborne which was the result of his own boss’ handling of the Daily Bugle. These elements along with his civilian involvement with his newspaper creatively added to the build-up of Spider-Man’s eventual encounters with the Punisher. The build-up was structured nicely and the pay-off was worth it.

There was also the introduction of Jackal. While he has a hideous appearance, his participation was more about scheming than action which contrasted him with the Punisher. For the newcomers reading this, Jackal is actually Miles Warren in a more monstrous form. From this comic book, it was clear that Jackal was created to be a recurring for of Spider-Man and this was strongly executed in the controversial Clone Saga of the 1990s.

Going back to the Punisher, he symbolically uses guns with designs that were more grounded in reality (inspired by real-life guns in looks) instead of taking influence from science fiction. As an assassin living with a strong code, the Punisher is truly determined to eliminate Spider-Man whom he even referred to as a murderer. The perception of Spider-Man as a criminal on the part of the Punisher clearly reflected the defamation caused by the Daily Bugle on the webslinger. Gerry Conway established the assassin to be a strong believer in fighting evil by using violence and killing.

The build-up of the Punisher is very solid and the pay-off in the form of battles with Spider-Man is tremendous and very satisfying to read. There is a lot of action to enjoy here and most notably Gerry Conway maintained a strong narrative throughout.

Conclusion

Have you ever worked in a newspaper before?

I can say out loud that Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974) is truly a great read and a true illustrated literary classic of Marvel Comics. This tale alone added a touch of darkness and grit (in the form of vigilante and assassins cultures) into the Spider-Man legacy. Apart from its status as a comic book classic, this one paved the way for the rise of the Punisher in terms of more comic book appearances and the publishing of new comic book series featuring him. While the Punisher’s legacy as a killer is obviously not something worth believing in, Marvel Comics took the risk of having him as one of their primary characters in the decades that followed. This particular story is so significant, Marvel Comics revisited it with What If #58 (1994). Check out my other Punisher-related retro reviews by clicking here, here, here, here and here.

Overall, Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974) is highly recommended!

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco