Category Archives: Movies & Multimedia

Shark Tank TV Show Review

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Many people dream to become rich by being an entrepreneur, but many are unable to achieve that goal. On Shark Tank, all of that can change in 15 minutes. 

In Shark Tank, 6 different Sharks come onto the show and listen to all of the pitches. The Sharks on the show are not real sharks of course; they are humans who are very successful entrepreneurs. Then, depending on how they feel about the sales and inventory, they offer a deal as an investment. These investments can be in the form of royalty deals, loans, or deals for equity in the company. Only 5 Sharks can appear on the show for each episode. There can be celebrity guest Sharks on the show who were able to be successful entrepreneurs in their careers, too. 

The 6 Sharks, Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary, have made investments that have changed the paths and outcomes of companies like Squatty Potty and Scrub Daddy. They help companies go from a hundred thousand dollars to a million dollars in sales in only a couple of years, sometimes even in months. 

The way the show works is that 5 Sharks listen to the entrepreneurs’ inventions, ideas about add ons to products, etc. First, entrepreneurs make a presentation and hand out samples to the Sharks. Sometimes they even set up the stage for large products, like earthquake bunker beds, hammocks, tents… They ask the Sharks to test/try their inventions. Next, they give brief information about their companies ( sometimes about themselves, too ) and tell the Sharks the deal that they are looking for. Later, after the pitch, the sharks can ask questions and have the entrepreneurs explain details about their sales and other partnerships. They usually ask questions like, “What are your sales like?” or “What do you need the money for?”. Then, they decide if they want to offer exactly what the entrepreneur was looking for, or if they want to make a new offer. The entrepreneurs have the right to accept, decline, or counter the offer. 

Shark Tank is a great show to watch because you can learn a lot from the Sharks. You can learn about how to be a successful entrepreneur from the advice they give to the ways they invest in companies. Also, you can learn from the Sharks’ experiences with their own companies. 

I love to watch Shark Tank because of the various things about business and entrepreneurship you can learn. In addition, I enjoy seeing different products that may be a big part of the future of our planet. I give this TV show a 10/10 rating because it shows if you work hard you can achieve anything. 

-Mert A. 

TV Review: Unsolved Mysteries

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The show Unsolved Mysteries is one of the most mind-bending and perplexing crime-solving shows on Netflix. Each episode of the show reviews a different case, none of which have been solved. 

As someone who deeply enjoys mysteries, this show is one of the most mind-boggling mystery shows I have watched and definitely keeps you on your toes throughout each episode.  Each case is uniquely different from the rest and is very descriptive.  

Some episode plots include UFOs, disappearances, kidnaps, and false identities. None of these have been solved by professionals so they come to the internet to try to bring light to certain cases that have been around for centuries, trying to get people’s points of views and hoping to close the case. 

The show became such a big hit and everyone had opinions on the cases that Netflix ended up opening an Instagram for viewers to discuss their theories. Many of these people are Webslueths or random online people who the police look to for help when a case is open for too long. 

The most perplexing thing about this series is that all the stories are true and have evidence proving it behind them. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys crime, mystery, and a good challenge. 

-Sanjana S.

Movie Review: Captain America: The Winter Solider

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In the second movie in the Captain America series, Steve Rogers finds himself fighting his long-time best friend, Bucky Barnes. Bucky has been brainwashed by HYDRA and now goes by the name The Winter Solider.

As one of the strongest members in HYRDA, The Winter Solider puts up a strong fight. Although Captain America had no intention of killing The Winter Solider he has hopes of bringing the old Bucky back. Yet The Winter Soldiers’ sole purpose is to kill Captain America. 

The movie introduces us to a new character, Sam Wilson. Who also goes by the name The Falcon. Personally, I did not support the casting of Anthony Mackie as the Falcon because I felt as though he lacked in some areas. 

The CGI and visual effects in the movie are phenomenal. The casting of the movie was well executed. Although one thing I disliked was the lack of depth in some scenes. Yet for the time limit, it was acceptable. Overall the movie was well executed and had a nice plot. They did not drag the movie and kept it intriguing. The movie was almost flawless and I would deeply recommend it to anyone interested in action, superheroes, and marvel.

-Sanjana S.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

The 100 TV Show Review

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The 100 is a Sci-Fi show consisting of 7 mind-blowing seasons. The show starts off in space when the station’s resources start running low. As a solution, they decide to send 100 juvenile prisoners back to planet Earth to see if it’s survivable. As they get sent to Earth, the 100 battle all sorts of problems. At the start of the show, we get to know the characters well as they arrive on Earth. Throughout the seasons, we get to watch the characters progress and push themselves out of their comfort zone, doing the unthinkable while facing the unpredictable. To truly understand the evolution of the plot, it’s much better to watch the series since I wouldn’t want to spoil it. The battles kick in immediately in the show as it’s a violent series. Despite all the violence, there is an emotional side to the show from all the sacrifices, deaths, stories, etc. It really gets you thinking of what’s out there and shines a light on how people change to survive. I would rate this show a solid 10/10. It’s full of surprises and really got me into the Sci-Fi genre. The details in the show are unexplainable and the plot line is something I’ve never seen before. 

– Kaitlyn Y

Movies to Watch

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Lots of us enjoy watching movies, but sometimes we can’t find any movies that we are interested in. If you feel like that, don’t worry because these are some great movies that you can watch! These are all movies that I really enjoyed. I really loved watching these because they were entertaining, made me laugh or they taught me something. I hope that you will be able to find something new to watch off of this list. 

These movies are not ranked or in order. 

The Hobbit: This movie is proof of heart over height. Even though it is just a movie, it really shows that willpower is more important than being tall or big. Bilbo Baggins, a tiny hobbit, who is only a couple feet tall and way shorter than a dwarf or a man, is the main character in the movie series. Bilbo and his dwarf friends work to take back their mountain and kingdom that Smaug the Dragon took from them. There are 3 movies about this adventure. They are called “An Unexpected Journey”, “The Desolation of Smaug”, and “The Battle of the Five Armies”. 

Lord of the Rings Series: As a sequel to the Hobbit, this movie series is about destroying the one ring that controls them all. Bilbo leaves the ring for Frodo, and Frodo leaves on a mission with his friends and fellow hobbits to get to Mount Doom and destroy the evil behind the ring. This is a great movie series that combines fantasy and adventure, and it also sneaks in lessons about friendship and loyalty. The 3 parts to this movie are “The Fellowship of the Ring” , “The Two Towers”, and “The Return of the King”. 

The War With Grandpa: When a widowed grandpa unwillingly moves into his daughter’s home to live with them, they give him  his grandson Peter’s room. Peter, who wants his room back, plans revenge. Peter and his grandpa agree on a prank war. This movie is super hilarious. 

Instant Family: When a couple decides to adopt children, they probably don’t expect it to be as hard as it is in this movie. Ellie and Pete Wagner decide to adopt a teen named Lizzy, but her 2 siblings come as a package with her. Elizabeth, Juan, and Lita are the 3 foster children. First, there needs to be a trial period to see if the children and the foster parents are a good fit for each other. The kids don’t approve of the parent candidates much. Are they going to like each other and form a family unit or keep annoying each other until this trial period ends? 

The Pink Panther (2006): You might know the Pink Panther short episodes, but this is a long movie filled with hilarious scenes from the one and only Detective Clouseau. When the soccer coach is shot dead at the match with a poisonous dart , Detective Clouseau and Ponton work to discover the answer to the question: Who killed him? Clouseau’s clumsy and silly actions cause bad relations with the other detectives, but they keep searching for the murderer and the thief who stole the Pink Panther ring. I loved this movie because of the humor and comedy that takes place, especially with Detective Clouseau. 

The Last Dance ( Michael Jordan Documentary): This documentary series has 10 one-hour episodes with Michael Jordan reliving his basketball achievements and explaining them. These moments that Michael Jordan talks about include the Playoffs against the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons who were known for their rough and physical play style and it also includes his best plays and moments in the NBA Finals against Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz. If you are a basketball or a sports fan, you will love this documentary. This documentary came out on April 19, 2020. 

Tom and Jerry (The Movie):  The perfect comedy for a family! If you have watched the adventures of Tom and Jerry cartoon episodes, you’re gonna love this movie! A combination of real people and cartoon animals, this movie does a great job of blending different worlds. 

-Mert A.

These titles (and more!) are available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library

Film Review: Raya and the Last Dragon

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I remember watching Mulan from the floor of my living room, gazing up to the screen, a little girl absolutely fascinated by a princess who looks like me–and yet, doesn’t at the same time. As a first-generation of Southeastern Asian descent, I felt like Mulan didn’t represent my culture. Even as Disney created a female Asian who takes the lead role, I still felt left out. After watching Raya and The Last Dragon, I felt like my culture was now being appreciated.

A heroine who doesn’t undergo typical coming-of-age experiences, but instead carves her own path to save her world and even becomes the villain of her own story–Raya is undoubtedly one of the best Disney princesses for Asian Americans to look up to. In the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons used to live in harmony. With different kingdoms who are separated by hate, Raya finds the last dragon Sisu and embarks on a quest to restore their uninhabitable land.

I have quite a few things to mention about the movie. In regards to animation, the movie is bright and colorful with realistic shots–the perfect setting for a hero’s journey. To be honest, the plot itself was often predictable; it seemed too straight forward, especially as a quest plot. The characters however, were extremely diverse and versatile in personality and never fall short to entertain the audience. There’s never a specific villain, but rather applies to everyone in the movie–a well-thought aspect to include. All of the characters show real human emotions at the right times; negative characteristics such as anger, hatred, and mistrust contributes greatly to the story’s plot and message.

As for the Southeast Asian references, Raya and the Last Dragon does so well in including details from every Southeast Asian culture. From my perspective, I was finally able to see a representative of my culture, regardless of it being a nonfictional movie. Raya is a bold, empowering female figure that I believe many little girls can look up to, no matter the race. Unfortunately, I’ve already grown out of my childhood, yet I’m grateful nonetheless. Disney has finally created a movie that girls of Southeast Asian descent can watch on the floor of their living room, gaze up to the screen, and see a courageous princess who actually looks like them.

– Natisha P.

Throwback TV Show for Teens

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With quarantine, I found myself bored, and without new episodes of shows coming out, I turned to Netflix and Disney+ with shows from my early childhood years. One I watched over and over in elementary and middle school was H20: Just Add Water. The Australian show originally came out in 2006 and ran until 2010. It was followed by a spin-off 3 years later that ran until 2016. The original series follows three teenage girls as they become mermaids and navigate how to keep their secret hidden from their family and friends while also still maintaining a normal social and school life. The spin off series follows three mermaids who have been mermaids since birth as they discover the human world and deal with threats towards their home.

Since becoming a teenager and entering high school, I began to find new respect for the shows I watched as a kid/pre-teen. Being in high school, especially not as a freshman, allows for me to experience the shows I used to enjoy in a new light since I know some of the struggles they are talking about more, like lots of homework and more friendship drama. Shows, specifically H20: Just Add Water allow me, for at least 30 minutes per episode, allow me to both reminiscence on the past of my childhood as well as appreciate the show in the format it provided for teenage audiences. 

I would recommend this show to anyone who enjoyed shows like this as a kid and want something both familiar and refreshing. I would also recommend that even if you have seen this show before, watch it again if you haven’t recently. Shows like this, and others on Netflix and Disney+ have been great to watch back as a teenager, especially with free time during quarantine and hybrid schooling. 

Movie Directors We Love: Steven Spielberg

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Steven Spielberg has one of the best resumes when it comes to movies he has directed. His movies have grossed more than $25 billion in the box office which is a feat that has not been passed by any other director in the business. The Movie list that Speilberg has directed is unparalleled. Let me just list a few: Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, E.T., Ready Player One, and Jaws. That’s only a few of the amazing movies that he has directed and those movies are all fantastic movies that have made hundreds of millions in the box office. His record when it comes to making movies is unparalleled in the business because he has made so many big hits at the box office and that is not a thing that many movie directors can say about the movies that they have directed. Another thing that sets Speilberg apart from other directors is his style of filming by using a cinematic style while using minimal cuts in between scenes. Also, Speilberg likes to talk about family issues in his movies often using them to help the characters overcome their struggles and end up succeeding in the end and prevailing over their foe.

-Howard M.

The films of Steven Spielberg are available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Film Review: Moxie

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Netflix’s new teen movie Moxie largely fails in its potential and is decent overall, but still has something important to offer. Directed by Amy Poehler and based on a book of the same name by Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie is a high school movie whose aim is to discuss feminist topics.

The movie follows shy 16 year-old Vivian (Hadley Robinson) who begins anonymously making zines calling out the sexism in her school after meeting the valiant new girl Lucy Hernandez (Alycia Pascual) who won’t back down to sexism so easily. Later on, the two girls along with some friends made along the way form a group called Moxie, which actively challenges the problems the group faces.  

Throughout the movie, Vivian encounters many challenges. From dress codes to more serious offenses, the movie aims to discuss a wide-range of topics in feminism but fails to do so in an effective way. Because it’s so ambitious and eager to take on all of these topics within a 2-hour time frame, the movie can’t explore them in ground-breaking depth, creating a touch-and-go effect. 

The overwhelming amount of content here also detracts from the development of the characters as well, leading most of them to appear underbaked. Several times during the movie, there seems to be an attempt to explore these characters in more depth, but there’s never any further discussion later on. The marginalized identities of some of these characters seem to suffer from the same problem as they get caught up in the fray of inclusivity and are hardly ever discussed despite being involved in the Moxie group. 

But even though Moxie is rough around the edges, when I first watched Moxie, I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting yet another poorly written Netflix high school movie with the same overdone cliches, and even though Moxie is a lot of those things, I was happy to see a teen movie eager to spread a powerful and important message rather than a televised Wattpad fanfic.

While the movie’s received a lot of criticism online, most of which I’d agree with, I still think it’s important to acknowledge that its existence is a good thing. Not many movies are willing to even attempt discussing these topics or providing the amount of representation this movie did. So to that I give it props as a good next step for future movies that want to delve in these topics too. 

The one good thing about the movie is that it’s different. It tries to discuss something important which is always something worth thinking about. So for those of you at least interested in the movie, I’d still encourage watching it and forming your own opinion of the movie and how it handles these topics. 

-Elia T.

TV Review: Legend of Korra Season One

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The Legend of Korra was one of the most anticipated animated sequels for its time, given that it is the successor to the widely popular Avatar the Last Airbender. The show had a lot of expectations on its initial release and after rewatching it years later, I would say that, overall, it is actually a good show even with the harsh criticism from devoted fans.

In general, I would still recommend watching the show given that it is still an entertaining show like its predecessor and still has quality animations. I still enjoyed watching the fights and scenes overall but it felt like the story was lacking compared to the previous show.

The characters were still appealing overall, with few exceptions, and the world itself was well built and introduced an interesting dynamic that was engaging and different from the original show.

Some complaints I had were that many characters and their stories felt rushed and incomplete, with the finale of season one being very anticlimactic compared to any of the other finales in the previous show, although it is understandable given that the show was created under the pretense that it would only have one season and 12 episodes compared to the vast size of the previous seasons of Avatar. Overall the story and characters still meshed together in spite of this and the episodes were exciting up to the finale.

Overall, I would still rate the show highly given the conditions of the show, regardless if
the expectations were initially high. I think that initial expectations and comparisons between the show and its predecessor played a major role in the reaction of the fans, although if looked at as an independent show, it is still high enough quality overall to be rated well and is still a good watch.

-Benjamin L.

The Legend of Korra is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.