Self proclaimed leader of Tech Nation; Cross Nails and Thorn's very own Tech Support brings you tips, tricks, and reviews on technology, Comics, Movies, and all things geek from a Christian perspective.
Tech is back again after a rough world changing week. Even with everything going on I must press on and bring you a Tech tip (and finish my Thor and Justice League review).
Anyway, if you have updated your Windows 10 to Windows 10 Creative 1709, you may have notice that if you Shutdown or Restart your PC that whatever Window(s) you had open will re-open. Microsoft claims this is innovative in helping people get back to work where they left off. There is even a feature with Cortana where this works across devices, but something like this should be a choice and Microsoft did not give it with this latest update.
The whole purpose of shutting down and restarting is to get a fresh start. How can I tell a use have you tried rebooting or turn it off and on again if it will just come back to the same? Well, many have complained in the Microsoft Community Page and where you can vote up to voice your concern, but Microsoft has yet to address the problem.
If you want to do a full normal shut down you open up your command prompt and use good ol shutdown /r command.
Just type cmd into your Cortana search bar and hit enter to open the command prompt
Then type shutdown /r and hit enter
You will see this and yep as it says your PC will shutdown and restart with a clean slate.
This week I saw post saying don't get gas at any of the stations on this particular highway because their credit card had got hacked. True, this could happen at any gas station but I wouldn't knock out all the ones on the same highway as this vulnerability can be done at any gas station or even at any place that takes debit and/or credit cards.
The bad news is that the same technology is used when you swipe your credit card or make an order online is used. Granted a gas station is an easier target since they are outside and can be easily tampered with or hacked from a distance. This has made way for hackers.
So how do you stay safe? What should you do?
Protect Your Credit/Debit Card
Most Banks have protection that you can have put on your card that will detect suspicious activity
Set up Alerts to where you are texted/and or email when your card is used
Turn off your card if you suspect you have been hacked.
Just use Cash
This is the route most people take after one hack; personally I don't carry too much cash, but if you want a 100% guarantee use cash.
Pay the Attendant with your card
If you don't have cash, a safe way is to pay the attendant.
Now if you still want to use your card at the pump there are a few things to look for at the pump:
Look out for gas station credit card skimmers
This is basically a device that is attached to the real credit card scanner that collects credit card information. Look and see if the scanner looks different than the others; pull on it as most skimmers are easy to remove so that the thief can get away quickly.
Look for tamper-evident stickers
If the pump has this it may be torn or it may read void indicating that the pupm has been tampered with
Check the edges to see any evidence of prying.
Look out for Hidden cameras
Cameras may be placed above the pump to see your credit card and the pin number you type in. Look for anything out of the ordinary and cover your hand as you type in your number; or even fake press a few numbers...
Electronic Pickpockets
There are small devices that can hack a card if your card has an RFID chip implanted in it. Now this isn't to be confused with the chip read that is on most credit cards now. RFID is radio frequency ID chip that allows you to tap your credit card to pay.
This feature is being phased out as a hacker only need to to be a few inches away. There were wallets and sleeves that came out to protect from these hacks, but I recommend getting a card with out it.
Use the Pump closest to the cashier
Just for the simple fact criminals are less likely to hacked these pumps.
All in all the choice is yours. Just be careful and safe. Now pray the evil known as sinuses leave Tech's body so he can breath and be free of pain again.
Stephen King's horror is back on the screen again, but this time as a theatrical movie. Is it better than the T.V many series or the book? Well, I havn't read the book, but did read the cliff notes on it, and I did watch the the T,V series when I was young so i can still say whats what, right? Anyway on to the good, the bad and the Tech Worthy.
The Good
The Cast
Bill Skarsgård brings a new creepiness to Pennywise the trans-dimensional clown that feeds on scared children.
The kids aka The Losers Club acted their butts off in this movie. Unlike, the T.V series this movie only tells the story of them as kids and there is little focus on the adult characters. Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things is a standout as the foul mouth quipping Richie Tozier and Sophia Lillis shined as the only female member of the loser club, Beverly "Bev" Marsh.
The Story
The main plot pretty much stays the same in this new movie. A band of kids bond and come together to take down an interdenominational shape-shifting clown who needs to feed on children who are scared of him. This time the kids are growing up in the Eighties, instead of the Fifties like the book, or the sixties like the T.V series; meaning part two of this movie will probably take place in present day to finish the story.
Being Rated
Poor poor Georgie, If you have seen the T.V series you know how the opening plays out with Georgie chasing his little paper boat down in the rain until it goes down the drain. Here we just get Georgie reaching and seeminly being yanked in, but if you read the book and in the new movie poor Georgie gets his arm bit off and here we see him desperately trying to crawl away before IT shows his clawed teeth and sucks poor Georgie in. I said oh no, they showing kids get mutaled this is going to be a different from the T.V series.
The Bad
Michael "Mike" Hanlon going from star to token
Ok, Mike is the only African American in the Loosers Club. In the book and even the T.V series he had a big role, a rich back story, and was an integral part of the group. First off Mike is the partial narrator of the book and is the only on to stay behind in the town; thus keeps his memory of IT. He is also the historian of the group; his father had a photo album that had important moments in the the towns history; including Pennywise, and how long he had been terrorizing the town. Here in this movie, that role went more to Benjamine. who is the new kid at school who likes to spend his time in the library and has research on the town and the killings...
So, Mike, the key to the original story is now just a background character or dare I say token. In the movie, he has few lines and we only see hints of the racial hate and prejudice the bully Henry had for him and don't get the backstory of their parents. It's sad because where the novel and T.V series avoided just making him the token black character; the movie stripped him of who he was.
Now, the director has gone on to say that Mike will be the one to still stay behind become a librarian and will keep up with the history and will be the one to call everyone back in the sequel, but he will also be a junkie.... yea... had to put that in there huh. Looks bad, but the director says this is incorporating the seen in the book where Mike and the loosers get high off the fumes of the smokehouse and see Pennywise "origin". Suuuuure, guess we will see where this goes in the sequel.
IF you are a Stephen King fan you probably know that all of his novels exist in a shared universe thanks in part to having portals that can go to different worlds and time as present in the Dark Tower.
In fact IT himself is a creature from outside all of the other universes. His adversary is the Turtle and for those that know the lore know that the turtle is said to have created the universes and IT believes himself to be his opposite who consumes life where the turtle creates it.
Final Thought
All in all IT was a good horror film that calls back to a classic.
I can't count the number of times that I have received an email from someone that says, "Hey, Check this out!" And it be some ambiguous link. Yea, I'm talking to you yahoo email users. Time and time again I told those with yahoo emails to get rid of it, but no they still use it and I still get spammed.
Well today Yahoo reporter that ALL 3 billion of its accounts were hacked in a 2013 data theft. Yes I said All making it the largest breach in history. I guess Verizon is having second thoughts since they lowered their offer to purchase Yahoo...
Ah, anyway my Yahoo users check your email, Yahoo said it would be sending an email to all accounts affected or just go with another email provider. Outlook or Gmail are two of my goto's.
Well, well, well, when you thought Microsoft Office 2016 would be the last perpetual Office update, well think again. Microsoft teased Office 2019 as a part of its Ignite Conference.
Still focused on the cloud, Microsoft still realized that not everyone is ready to jump to the cloud with Office 365. Yea, they realize some of you still want stand alone software.
So now you may be asking what exactly should you do. What are the benefits of having the cloud version of office with Office 365 or the stand alone version with Office 2019? In the end it is up to you and what you prefer. When it comes to 365, Microsoft wants to be a part of your utility bill, something you need and budget for annual. So like a Tech movie review let's go with the good the bad and Tech Worthy of each.
Office 365: The Good
You always have the latest update and newest features for everything in the office suite
1 TB included of One Drive Space
The ability to install the software on multiple devices (up to 5); laptops, cell phones, tablets, etc
Access your software and data from anywhere
Free Technical Support
Office Stand Alone 2016, 2019 etc
One time Cost, you buy it its yours forever
Get only what you need like Excel, Word, Power Point or pay more for the whole suite
Office 365: The Bad
Giving up about 100 bucks a year
Office Stand Alone: The Bad
Only security Updates; No new features or software upgrades
Can only install on one device
The Tech Worthy
Uh guess I didn't think this through, the good can also be considered a part of the Tech Worthy.
Final Thought
Again its up to you. For me I have 365 because I have multiple devices and use more products in the suite like publisher. If you just need word, excel, or power point just go with the basic stand alone edition. Or if you don't want to pay Microsoft anything check out Apache Open Office. It's free!
"Apache OpenOffice is the leading open-sourceoffice software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose."
via GIPHY
Despite it all Tech is back after a long hiatus. With moving and work, life has been giving me quite the beat down. So, yea its been mostly work eat sleep and repeat with some Madden 17 and 18 thrown in there. I thought 18 would be better but it cheats worst than 17 especially in competitive mode. Madden and its evil ways are for another blog or even podcast. Maybe I can get the fellows of what Chill B has dubbed the Mut squad to talk about it. J Cizzly, T.O, Teflon Viper?
Anyway this ain't Tech Talk, this is Tech Tip Tuesday. I once told you about a nifty bit of software called Ccleaner. Well, seems good ol CCleaner was hacked and was installing malware on users PC's. Don't panic, if you use the program you should have seen a pop up to update. If not either uninstall or update the software. Its that simple.
Check your version:
Affected versions: CCleaner v5.33.6162 or CCleaner Cloud v1.07.3191 for 32-bit Windows PCs. The Android version for phones doesn't seem to be affected. To be safe you can just hit check for updates at the bottom right of the program.
The best things in life are freeeee!
Want to expand your Microsoft knowledge or learn about some of the software it has to offer? Well Eric Ligman Microsoft Director of Sales Excellence is giving away millions of FREE Microsoft eBooks again!
Largest FREE Microsoft eBook Giveaway! I’m Giving Away MILLIONS of FREE Microsoft eBooks again, including: Windows 10, Office 365, Office 2016, Power BI, Azure, Windows 8.1, Office 2013, SharePoint 2016, SharePoint 2013, Dynamics CRM, PowerShell, Exchange Server, System Center, Cloud, SQL Server and more!
Tech Support Tech Support does whatever a Tech can do. Fix a computer, any size. Cleans the viruses just in time. Look out! Here comes Tech Suppoooort... with another review! Welcome home Spider-man! Spider-man Homecoming is the best Spider-man film to date! If you are sitting there thinking oh no not another Spider-man reboot, I'm done well hold on and come back because we finally get a good version of Spidey and he is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; the MCU!
Before you read on, if you haven't already go see this movie! Spoilers after the Spidey singing video.
Still here? Ready for some spoilers? Ok then, Going to start off with the good, the bad, and the Tech Worthy!
The Good
The Cast
Tom Holland was born to play Peter Parker/Spider-man! We finally get to see Peter Parker struggle with high school life and trying to be the best Spidey he can be. We see his genius, his heroism, charm, and charisma (No mopey or crying emo dancing Peter like we have seen before) Can't wait to see more from Him.
Michael Keaton also kills it with Adrian Tombs aka the Vulture which was pretty much expected. The MCU is known for its lack luster villains, but the Vulture did not disappoint. And loved the Vulture Suite.
Marisa Tomei as the young and hot Aunt May. Seems it most recent media writers have been making May either younger or more vibrant. I like this version as the role she plays in Peter's life and also their relationship and dynamic. From the end scene it will be interesting how this goes forward. What the...
Robert Down Jr as Tony Stark aka Iron Man with John Favreau as Happy Hogan. Both were welcome additions that help bridge the gap between this and Civil War. And for those saying this is Iron Man 4 and that he would take over the movie can rest easy as if you have watched all the previews you have seen a piece of all his scenes. Here he is a mentor, role model, and father figure to Peter.
Jacob Batalon as Ned Peter's best friend. Yea, he seems to be based more off of Miles Morales best friend Ganky rather than the Ned from the 616 but he brings a joy and humor to the role as he knows Peter and his secret.
Tony Revlori as Flash Thompson. People complained when he was cast as he was not the big jock that terrorized Peter in high school who would later become his friend and then Agent Venom, but I like his take on the character in making Flash a more modern day bully and almost rival to Peter. He didn't use physical prowess, but he was smart, rich and popular. Peter was smarter, but not popular or rich.
Laura Harrie as Liz the love interest. A senior and Peter's crush who was not just the pretty girl in school, but was intelligent and head of the decathlon team and admired Peter for his intelligence and even agreed to go to the homecoming dance.
Just have to add i love the diversity of this cast and how Peter's school looked like a school would in Queens, NY.
Spider-man
We finally get the care free, optimistic, quipping Spider-man and he is in the MCU.
We see him in chemistry secretly making his web fluid
Hiding his suit under the lockers where only he can lift and get to it.
Seeing Spider-man web through the neighborhood and not the big city was fun as we even see him run out of things to swing on instead of hitting something imaginary as he does in the video games and some old cartoons.
Being the kid in Iron man 2 now it makes sense why he would look up to Tony and want to be like him.
Captain America's PSA's
These were funny as they were used through out the film from Peter's school. The gym teacher even jokes that I am sure this guy is a War Criminal now...
Stay till the end - credits to get another one that explains itself and you waiting to the last credit to roll...
The Score
Love the music and how it weaved the old Spider-man theme throughout... Yea i had it in my had for a while... Spider-man Spider-man, does whatever a spider can...
The Twist
Wow, this was truly a twist for me, because I did not expect it. From the beginning with Adrian Tombs looking at the picture his daughter drew of the Avengers to then seeing through out the movie Michelle drawing everyone made me go ok, she is the Vulture's daughter that's easy to see, but when Peter went to pick up Liz for the Homecoming dance and Adrian Tombs opened the door me along with the whole theater gasped. Yea not Michelle, but Liz is the Vulture's daughter. This makes for some comedic scenes with Peter's expressions during the whole meet the parents thing until as they talk on the car ride you see Adrian start to realize that Peter is Spider-man (Thanks to Liz not shutting up about him not showing up when Spider-man around and his Peter's voice)
So, then who is Michelle? People were up in arms when it was rumored that Zendaya would be playing Mary Jane. Then it came out from the novelization that she was Michelle Tombs, daughter of the Vulture, but as i said before this that was not the case. So who is she? Well we do get a Batman The Dark Knight Rises moment (My friends call me Robin) when Michelle says my friends call me MJ. So, is she in fact Mary Jane or Michelle Jane or Mary Michelle Jane... Seems that a lot of these scenes were cut, but there are plenty of pictures of Michelle looking at Peter with affection, we only get it once in the movie in this scene when Peter is called away by Happy, but even still its obvious that she likes him.
If you look at all the characters in this movie none of them are a carbon copy of the comic book counterpart as many are combinations or amalgams of them. Ned is not a reporter at the daily bugle who fought with Peter over Betty Brant's love who would later become the hobgoblin. Speaking of Betty she is also in the movie as a classmate and school reporter. Liz is not the girl friend of Flash who at first looks down on Peter. So, who is to say that Michelle is or is not Mary Jane...
The Bad
Trying to be too different from the past 2 Spider-man Franchises.
No Spidey-Sense. The Director, Jon Watts, said that he didnt want to focus on it, but said it was there and something that would be developed. I'm fine with that as in Civil War Peter said he needed the goggles to focus his senses and maybe that is hindering him from tapping into his power, but with that said it should have been at least hinted at in the movie so these Nay sayers wouldn't be crying over it.
No mention of Uncle Ben or With Great Power comes Great Responsibility
Again I am cool with not showing the origin, but I think we could have gotten a picture and or mention of him. We here that May went through a tough time, but not about what.
Its understandable they didn't want that weight to be Peter's drive to be a hero, but a short flash back or him looking at a picture with the words echoing would have been enough.
I understand trying to distinguish it from the previous franchises, but as the saying goes if it aint broke dont fix it.
Sony aka Hydra is still a part of this.
Yea I said it! Sony is Hydra. All they care about is money and how the can use the rights to spidey to make it. Making Spider-man three and the reboot made them realize that they couldn't do it so they finally struck a deal and we get a good movie. Oh but no they are not done, they plan on still making their own universe without Spider man. A Venom movie along with a Black Cat and Silver Sable movie are on the way... Why i ask why? Venom without Spidey? Can't they just let Marvel have it? Why must they do this? You know they even thought of a young spy Aunt May movie? Then the head of Hydra Amy Pascal says their moves are part of Marvel's universe causing Kevin Feige to have the what now look to then retract it.
Sony also put to much in their previews. The got so excited that Marvel had made them a good Spider man movie they had to show clip after clip after clip....
The Tech Worthy
Donald Glover as Aaron Davis
We see him trying to buy future tech from both Shockers but he doesn't want the big loud guns he wants something more discreet because if you don't know Aaron Davis is also known as the cat burglar the Prowler. He perks up when he hears them talking about "climbers".
He helps Spider-man by giving him info on finding the bad guys hideout and even some advice on being a hero
The kicker comes when he tells Spidey that he doesn't want those weapons on the street because he has a nephew that lives there. His nephew is non other than Miles Morales aka Ultimate Spider-man. So officially Miles is in the MCU! So we may get Prowler stealing that spider from Scorpio and bringing it to the Morales house... One can only hope.
The Mid-Credit Scene
I am glad the Vulture did not die like most villains seem to in Super Hero movies as we see him in jail and he is then approached by non other than Mac Gargan. Mac was seen earlier in the film trying to by tech from the Vulture and if that name sounds familiar, Mac is none other than Spidey villain The Scorpion. In Jail, he says he learned that Adrian might know who Spider-man is. He does, but he does not divulge the info and goes on to see his family. Nice set up for future villain and the start of the Sinister 6 perhaps? I hope so, keep it out of Sony hands...
Jennifer Connelly as Karen Spider-man's suite AI
Its cool because if you didn't know Jennifer is married to Paul Bethany who was Iron man's AI before eh became the Vision.
She was also Betty in Ang Lee's Hulk movie, but we will forget about that...
An almost upside down Kiss
After Spider-man saves his classmates in the elevator, he is upside down in front of Liz and Karen his A.I says this is your chance to kiss her. A nice call back to Sam Raimi's Spider-man.
Stan Lee's Cameo
Stan is one of the people living in the apartment where Spider-man thinks he has stopped a guy from breaking into a car when it was his own car and the alarm goes off causing people to yell at Spidey. Stan yells out
The Iron Spider Suite?
At the end Tony is prepared to make Spidey an Avenger allowing him to live in the new Avengers facility. He even presents a new suite that looks shiny and more armored, but Peter turns it down vowing to stay with being the friendly neighborhood Spider-man.
Missed opportunity to use the actual Iron Spider suite here, would have been a nice Easter Egg.
Tech's Final Thoughts
This movie was awesome and a welcome joy to the MCU. Kid friendly? Yes, but it was a fun romp and what I think Spider-man should be. Different from the other movies but still in the same universe. So yes this is a definite must see! We may see this Spider-man for years to come as rumor has it he is set to be the Iron man of phase 4.
Spider-man movies rated from best to least:
Spider-man Homecoming Spider-man 2 Spider-man The Amazing Spider-man 2 The Amazing Spider-man Spider-man 3 (Dancing Toby, you are to blame)
And my thoughts and prayers are with Stan Lee as his wife of 70 years passed away at the age of 93.
Facebook, one of the most popular Social Media sites. Ah, I remember when all Facebook was just a place to keep college kids connected and not about crushing candy, telling your business, what you ate, selfies, spoiling T.V. shows, ambiguous messages, NSFW pictures, live videos, meaningless arguing over battles between heroes from different genres, ruining social interaction.... ok, ok, I digress this tip is not about all that.
Have you ever got a request from someone already on your friends list? Your first reaction may be, Great another fake account which it could be, but sometimes it is in fact that person. Why did they make another account? Most of the time its because they forgot their password...
Instead of making page after page, let's take some precautions to keep your account safe and accessible.
General Settings.
Contact: Make sure your primary contact is an email that you use regularly and have access to (Stop rushing and using junk emails or emails that you don't plan on using on a regular basis)
You can also add multiple email addresses, so that if you forget your password, you can have it reset and sent to one of your emails.
Add your Phone Number as another way to reset our find your lost account.
Security and Login Settings
Here you can choose 3 to 5 trusted friends to help if you get locked out of your account.
Also, its a good idea to turn on Get Alerts about unrecognized logins
Take the time to go through your Facebook Settings. Make sure that it is secure to your liking and that only the information you want is made public.
Explosions ✔
Eye Candy ✔
Sexual innuendos ✔
More Explosions ✔
Everything needed for a Michael Bay Movie: Bayformers a bad movie in disguise. We again get another movie about humans surrounded by explosions and sexual tension with the occasional appearance by a giant alien robot.
Transformers, more than meets the eye. Transformers Robots in disguise. Except for when Michael Bay gets a hold of them, then their giant generic robots who are minor characters in their on movie. You think by movie number five something would change or get better, that you wouldn't get the same movie as the four before it, but alas, Bay has a formula and he sticks to it.
The PlotThe same as the four before it
We start in the past in a war with non other than King Arthur and his Knights; Lancelot and all them in a war that they clearly can't win. Oh, but King Arthur is like; we got this, we just have to hold on until Merlin the magician comes. Arthur's knights say Merlin is a liar, a trickster, and doesn't know real magic and that he is just a drunk.. Absurd! Not the most powerful wizard in history right? Well turns out the Knights were right. We see Merlin elsewhere drinking from a flask, drunk going to some cave talking to himself. I know what you are thinking. What does this have to do with transformers? Yea, I asked myself that too while watching... Anyway Merlin his hit against the cave by a transformer a Cybertonian Knight. Is he the last? No. Merlin pleads that he help them and save Camelot. So the Knight gives Merlin a staff that wields ultimate power... Yes, Merlin got his staff and power from a transformer. Not only did he get the staff but their are 12 knights, yes 12 see he is not the last and they can all combine to form the three headed dragon Dragonstorm. Merlin and Dragonstorm come to the aid of King Author and his Knights and easily take out their adversaries, creating the legend....
Back to the present on Earth. You would think it would be all good, but no. The transformers have become outcast and the government hunts them; calling themselves the TRF Transformers Reaction Force. Its members? Josh Duhmael and Tyrese are back not having been seen since the 3rd generic movie... Wait...wait... that's not Tyrese... In action, he kind of looks like him, but he doesnt talk as much and he only has a few lines....
Anyway, Transformers have been constantly falling to Earth hunted by the TRF. Oh, but Marky Mark is back and is hiding out with the auto and dino bots in a junk yard. He bursts on the scene with Bumblebee after rescuing some Nickelodeon actors, I mean kids from a TRF Walker drone. One a girl who is a survivor of the attack on Chicago in the previous movie who has befriended a little robot Squeaks and a big guy named Canopy. Canopy dies and Marky Mark or Cade finds a Cybertonian Knight who gives him a talisman that he claims will protect him. In the Shadows we see the police car Decepticon Baricade telling Megatron what he saw.
Remember the end of Transformers Age of Extinction? Don't worry most people probably don't. We see Optimus go into space to meet his makers warning them the he is coming and to leave Earth alone. Well it seems Cybertron has been coming toward Earth and Optimus meets his maker, Quintessa, but his threats go down the toilet when she back hands him into submission telling him for Cybertron to live, Earth must die. With a new red streak on his face an purple eyes from the slap from Quintessa, Optimus bows to find the ultimate weapon that will destroy Earth and save Cybertron. Oh, enjoy Optimus while you can here, because you won't see him again for another two and half hours...
So, the TRF also learn about the weapon that can bring back Cybertron and destroy Earth so they go to of all transformers Megatron for help in finding the weapon and in a Suicide Squad style Montage Megatron requests the aid of Decepticons that the TRF have in uh robot jail. Some Decepticons are deemed too dangerous or not generic enough, but Megatron gets, with freeze frame and name splash, Onslaught, Mohawk, Nitro and Dreadbot... I don't even know why I or this movie listed their names. They are not shown much and you will forget about them anyway.
The orphan girl, Izabella sneaks a ride back to the junkyard where the Dinobots; Grimlock, Slug, Swoop and their babies... I guess it was their babies, it was mini versions of them...anyway and Autobots: Bubmebee, Hound, Drift, Crosshairs, Wheelie have all been chillin and hiding out since that last generic movie with Cade and the Carmichael shows Carmichael. The Suicide Squad... I mean Megatron and the Decepticons attack; all of them die except for Megatron, Baricade, and Nitro... see told you their was no point in showing their names. Cade is then approached by C3PO... no kidding his name is Cogman, but hey even one of the autobots ask who is this discount C3PO is...Anyway, Cogman is a headmaster Anthony Hopkins.... Now what convinced him to be in this movie?
Now you would think we would get some more robot action, but no we see a woman (the eye candy) playing Polo. She is Oxford professor Vivian Wemble and she is then kidnapped by autobot favorite form the cartoon, Hot Rod. Don't get excited this is not the Hot Rod you know and love. He has a French accent and works for the the English lord Anthony Hopkins or as he is in the movie Sir Edmund Burton. Now why did he bring Vivian and Cade to him? Well he is the last of the Witwiccan Order , a secret organization that has been keeping the history of the transformers over the years, a group that consisted of the likes of Fredrick Douglas and....and.... Michael Bay... So, wait does that mean Shia is dead or did his family just have a similar name... eh doesn't matter...
Ok, so it turns out that Vivian is the last descendant of Merlin and only she can get the staff and stop Cybertron from coming to Earth and the last Knight... .No it's not a transformer, but good ol Marky Mark himself Cade. The two find the staff and Vivian activates it causing mechanical horns to rise from the Earth... Now this is this is the kicker, the reason transformers have been falling the Earth, why Cybertron is on a collision course with Earth.... Earth is actually Unicron. Yes, Unicron the transformer devil himself that is the size of a planet. Don't get excited, all you see of him is horns rising from the Earth...
Anywho, they are attacked by one of the Cybertonian Knights. The TRF intervenes and kills the Knight. Then enters Optimus Prime now known as Nemesis Prime. Nice of him to show up at the end of the movie... Anyway, Optimus takes the staff to restore Cybertron. We then get a nice fight between Bumblebee and Optimus. Optimus basically is ripping Bumblebee apart and just as he is about to kill him Bumblebee speaks; and no not in some radio voice, we hear the real Bumblebee saying what I guess is still a recorded line about how it is an honor to follow Optimus and that he would die for him. More Cybertonian Knights appear ready to kill Optimus for his betrayal, but in steps Cade... The talisman.... It morphs into King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur causing the Knights to yield to him. Cade then tells Optimus to get up and to fight and protect the Earth.
Meanwhile, Megatron, Nitro, and Baricade work with Quintessa at Stone Hinge to bring back Cybertron. The TRF intervene and lord Burton starts to fire at Megatron who without Malice blasts him with his hand cannon. Then the TRF and Autobots team up to go to Cybertron get Vivian to the staff. For some odd reason Izabella tags along with Squeaks who has a heroic moment in destroying the turret. The TRF bails since Optimus is again missing and the get new orders to leave after placing a targeted strike that some scientist said would work instead of believing in a magic staff. Vivian and Cade stay vowing to complete the mission. Optimus finally shows up riding Dragronstorm. Where was he and why was he late, was the turret keeping him away... or did he just have to have his heroic moment? Anyway they battle and defeat Megatron. Optimus and Bumblebee "kill" Quintessa and Vivian gets the staff saving the day.
Optimus like he does in every movie gives his speech saying now Cybertron and Earth are connected and he invites all Transformers to come home to Cybertron. Then in a mid credit scene we see some scientist look at pieces of Unicron when a woman shows up saying she can help them destroy the being... Yes, its Quintessa... I thought this was going to be the last movie, no do not continue this!
The Good
The Fights
I mean when we did get action there were some nice fight scenes with the Transformers. Optimus always came in hard like a boss "Don't you know who I am" He says after chopping the heads off a line of Quintessa's soldiers, "I'm Optimus Prime
Bumblebee
We get a little bit of his history again seeing that he has been on Earth for a long long time even fighting against the Nazi's.
He appears to be Cubix now as he can break apart and control his parts individually and come back together
So there is suppose to ,be a spin-off move set in the 80's with him; just leave Michael Bay out of it, or reboot this universe...
Anthony Hopkins and Cogman
This duo was a highlight of the film creating some nice comedic moments
The sets
The scenes and backgrounds looked nice being filmed in IMAX
Optimus Prime
He wasn't in the move much, but when he was, he was an OG, one bad robot!
The Bad
The Plot
This movie was all over the place and did not fill like a transformers movie.
As always, the humans are the stars and get the most screen time; the Transformers are minor characters in their on movie
Same plot that has been in previous movies
The Transformers
Again Michael Bay has some of the transformers portray racist stereotypes
Most are generic and if they are not named Optimus or Bumblebee, you forget who they are
The Sexual Innuendos
Classic Bay as we get a scene with Cade and Vivian trying to find a clue in her father's study to where the staff is and as they talk to the outside it sounds as if they are doing the do to her mother and her friends.
Hot Rod
Hot Rod, the young brash autobot that became leader after Optimus died in the generation 1 cartoon is now just a servant for lord Burton.
He has a French accent
The Tech Worthy
The Earth being Unicron
Now this is an interesting idea and creates a whole new dynamic in the Transformers war.
Cogman
Robot headmaster and butler portrayed by Jim Carter who is basically being his character from downtown Abby (I have not watched the show, just read that online)
Tech Rating
How is this Franchise still going when its the same movie every time? All I can say is if you like the four before it, then go see it. If not, don't waste your time or money. If you take the beginning and end of the movie and take out the middle with all the human dram then you might have a decent movie. Time for Michael Bay to step away and reboot this franchise and actually make it about the Transformers!
Anyway, if you have updated your Windows 10 to Windows 10 Creative 1709, you may have notice that if you Shutdown or Restart your PC that whatever Window(s) you had open will re-open. Microsoft claims this is innovative in helping people get back to work where they left off. There is even a feature with Cortana where this works across devices, but something like this should be a choice and Microsoft did not give it with this latest update.
The best things in life are freeeee!
