Monday, December 21, 2020

Top 10 The Last Of The Americans moments in 2020

    (0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. Fade cut to James in his room at his house)

TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans 2020, how do I despise thee, LET ME COUNT EVERY SINGLE WAY! (Cut to clips of everything that happened in 2020 as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):
Between Manic Expression being forced to close down though it was temporary, My father passing away when I posted my "Different Cuts Of Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings Trilogy" and that was on the same fricking day, Me losing the woman I love and forcing my friends to return home, shutting down my studio, having to go bare-bones with my reviews and Oh, before I forget a project I had planned for this year, I may get done next year but that's gonna happen because things WILL work out for me next year one way or another, even if I make more enemies than friends and speaking of enemies, I haven't forgotten the vitriolic disdain you hit me with, now it will be used to fuel me towards success in the next year which I will get to later on. But for now, let's send this year off with the Molotov Cocktail we need to burn it to cinders, piss and crap on it after it has burned to said cinders! (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
So much so, that I figured this would be how we should all end this year! (Cut to the clip of Al Bundy laughing as he jumps out of a plane. Cut to James physically.) However by the grace of God we survived and with five moments that you liked and five I liked... (James pulls out his RoboKnight Morpher and De-Morphs)

James Faraci:
Let's countdown the Top 10 moments of The Last Of The Americans in 2020! 

(Scene begins with a laser hitting a slab of Titanium as the music of the 1994 American Gladiators opening theme plays the angle of the camera goes into the laser as three shadowed figures with a lasered outlines appear as the shadows reveal themselves to be James Faraci in the center, Paulo Fonseca on the right and Rebecca Yaun on the left as their names appear above the characters. As the three-run out of frame moving forward, four more shadowed figures with lasered outlines appear and the shadows reveal themselves as Brenda Fonseca on the right, Nick Yaun on the left and John and Mike Santos and their names appear above the characters. As they run out of frame moving forward, five more shadowed figures with lasered outlines appear as they reveal themselves to be Renee Miller and Eric Kurtzke on the right, Andrew Beach and Ed Champion on the left and Olivia Horvath appear in the center as their names appears above the characters. As they run out of frame credits of “Written and directed by James Faraci, Edited by Eric Kurtzke, Makeup by Olivia Horvath Produced by First Choice Productions” as it ends the Laser beam disappears and at the 0:28 mark of the theme song the words “The” “Last” “Of” “The” appears. At the 0:32-0:36 mark the word “Americans” start to come forward as it pulls down and  James’ Morpher and Sonic Screwdriver is flung into frame as James grabs both and morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
Number 10

(Cut to clips from "A Zombie Halloween Jubilee" as James does a voiceover)


James Faraci (Voiceover):
I made many a promise to my oldest brother Rob before he passed away last year. Some more personal than others. One being later on this list and of course, doing a review of the Rob Zombie duology of his attempt to breathe new life into the "Halloween" series and I hope that I did well by my late older brother Rob. But for me, the best part was being able to physically work off someone else was fun! Especially since I used it for a catharsis for all the pain I felt after most of this year being a complete Yakov Smirnoff opening for the Spin Doctors of a Shitstorm of a year. Especially since the person who played Michael Myers and the truck that I helped us to beat the hell out of him was gone and for the record, the man in the suit of "The Shape" was played by a mutual friend who is not a member of Team TLOTA. However, the original idea was to have it be a date gone wrong between myself and Alex because of a Kayfabe promises to my deceased Oldest Brother to watch the non-existent Rob Zombie remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and me dealing with a sociopathic Rob Zombie Fan who feels it best to drive me nuts while I dealt with Rob Zombie's Halloween Duology. But this may be one of those Thanking My Lucky Stars that this actually was better than I thought it would've been. (Fade to black)

(0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
Number nine

(Cut to clips of "Quarantined With the "Aquamarine" Blues"


James Faraci (Voiceover):
This is where everything started to go downhill for "The Last Of The Americans". Originally, I had planned for Arielle Kebbel to be in the review at the studio, but thankfully Arielle was more than willing to do a video cameo for the review and I let her know about certain things, like comparing Cecilia to Lisa from "The Room" and of course this little bit. (Show the old footage of James and James reacting differently than a Fegulah Meshuginah Schmuck from Chicago and Arielle getting more and more upset that she's not getting the reaction that she wanted, James fighting back and revealing the High face of Kayla doing the "Remember Me, Eddie" Judge Doom moment from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and Arielle screaming in fear and the ending of the review. Cut back to clips of the review as James continues his voiceover) That's right, I took something a certain Fegulah Meshuginah Schmuck and inverted it to make Hollywood know that We're not scared to fight back if you attack us. But the fact I had to go to my last options as to how I wanted to get it done makes me feel sad that this wasn't one of my better ones overall but it was one of the better ones I did this year! (Cut to the ending as Arielle screams in fear and it cuts to the blood-soaked message which is a moot point at this point)

(Cut to 0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
Number Eight

(Cut to clips of "A "Possible" Crossover Co-Written by Charles "DukeCT" Thomas" as James does a voiceover)


James Faraci (Voiceover):
I wanted to do a review of the 2019 DCOM "Kim Possible", However, I had to deal with the pesky truce that I had set up to keep me directly out of the line of fire. Thankfully Charles "DukeCT" Thomas was willing to put up with my ideas and as some of the last of the stragglers before I everything down due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Thankfully Christy and Brendan were real good sports and were willing to be a part of this before the forced shutdown and liked the idea. The moment I loved was when I had Alex fight off Shego, The first idea I had which I didn't tell anyone about was to have Alex drag me and DukeCT out by our petards and it would end with Alex finishing them off in the usual way. However, after some second thoughts, I wanted in on the action. So after some discussions, we went through a lot to get to where the review you got!

(Jump cut to 0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
Number Seven


7) "Superman & The Seven "Returns", "Connect The Plots: How DC had a shared universe and didn't capitalize on it" and "Birds" attacking me! "Prey" for me!

James Faraci (Voiceover):
These three tied because they showed How Warner Brothers misusing their DC Properties isn't a new thing. Whether it was back when they thought Christopher Nolan doing Batman's Properties was something to Piggyback the next Superman project, whether it was how they had the start of something good and how they decided not to capitalize on the popularity they had with the DC Properties or how after trying so hard and STILL failing with their newer ones even after Marvel had pretty much killed any hope for a cinematic comeback. Plus, it got some things I needed to talk about, like the twist with Jason from "Superman Returns", how painful watching a newer DC Cinematic Property is, and the damage it could cause. It made me feel like Joel and The Bots just by the end of "Castle Of Fu Manchu" and how much agony it caused me. And one last note doesn't expect more from the current DC Movies from me, I need to give myself a break and hope to god DC Movies get better.

(0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
Number Six

(Cut to clips of "Reality Checkout: Are Cooking Shows Reality TV?")


James Faraci (Voiceover):
This was one I had been mulling around in my head for a while and requests from e-mails of people saying "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" or "Man Vs Food" needed to be taken down a peg or how much they hate the original "Iron Chef Japan" or it's short-lived revival a few years back. This was one time I had to help disseminate what was Reality TV and Cooking Shows. I actually love shows that help me better my culinary skills and tastes. It also had to show that I was not immune to what was happening as a forced shutdown of the studio had to happen and that 2020 would hurt James in more ways than one! As I had to not only shut down the studio and everything that I wanted to do, including the movie I had planned for this year and as to whether or not that will happen next year, that's now up in the air as well So yeah, while dealing with Reality TV forcing me to deal with the effects of The real world! The Paradox is mind-boggling!

(0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
(Cut to clips of "The Top Ten Dumbest moments in the JAWS Movies" as James does a voiceover.)


TLOTA (Voiceover):
This one forced me to deal with some more of my pain and not because of the horrendousness of the "JAWS" sequels. Because "JAWS" was one of my brother's favorite movie franchises, bad moments and all! So sitting down, having to watch all those movies brought back memories of me, my oldest brother, and my father and all the fishing trips we used to have. While a lot of the moments were expected, one moment I missed out of while stupid I thought was too stupid to be on the list Ellen's Psychic connection to the shark and the flashbacks to moments she was only told about or not even a part of in any way shape or form, like the ending of the Original "JAWS" ending. Thank you Steve Kidd for a reminder as to why "JAWS The Revenge" is STILL a dumpster fire! But not as much as this year has been!

(0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
Number Four

(Cut to clips of "The Different Cuts: Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings Trilogy" as James does a voiceover)


James Faraci (Voiceover):
Yep, this one was more a fan favorite than anything I cared for. I loved both editions of Peter Jackson's "The Lord Of The Rings" Trilogies. I loved all the time and effort Peter Jackson put into both versions that choosing one better than the other was an impossible task. So I just decided to say which ones were better and why both were worthy of the wonky point values I gave them. However the day I posted this one, turned into my worst day personally and professionally as I was happy to get my review link on the site Manic Expression.com and figured it would be a post of the week candidate. However hours later, the site was shut down for undisclosed reasons and while that was happening, I suffered the most painful loss in my personal life. On August 17, 2020, my beloved father passed away in my living room, he had been a touchstone in my life. He was an avid outdoorsman, a loving husband, uncle, father, and grandfather. Leaving behind his wife of forty-five years (My mom), three surviving children (Of which I am one of them, obviously), three Granddaughters, and nearly an infinite amount of memories for me and my family. And along with that every review I have done and any future review/project I will ever do I dedicate to him and my brother, his namesake Rob. So, how the fact that I had to endure the worst professional and personal loss I'd ever face on the same day I posted one of the best episodes clash with one another? Simply put, if I ever have a day like I did in August, well Check out the No. 3 spot.

(0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
Number Three

(Cut to clips of "Survival Of The Shootist" as James does a voiceover)


James Faraci (Voiceover):
As I mentioned already on this list, On the same day I posted my "Different Cuts Of Peter Jackson's "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy was also the day the original version of Manic Expression was shut down and the day my father had passed away. After finishing it and the "In Defense of... Baywatch", I shut myself away and decided to mourn my father's passing for a month! In that time I decided to wonder whether or not I should've called it a career as "The Last Of The Americans", canceled my movie project, and gotten into something else like working a job in some sort of job that I could learn to make sure I would hate myself for giving up on something I wanted to do with my life, do that until I dropped dead and wound up a corpse. However, my family, friends, fans, and colleagues in the reviewing community felt it would be a waste of what I've done and loved for the past seven years if I just stopped The Last Of The Americans dead and had no plans to end him properly. So I looked at a John Wayne movie and wondered what he would do when a tragedy. It was after watching it, I felt my dad's spirit come and comfort me and say "Keep on doing what you're doing. I loved you helping me out but seeing you do this makes me happy knowing I will be with you in spirit and you will be a success Bubba-Booey! I love you now as you move forward." That led me to believe that I could move on and I decided to review "The Shootist" as a tribute to my father and to my love of John Wayne. It was something that led me to believe that I could move forward with what I wanted to do to let me move forward. No matter what happens from that moment forward I was going to be happy and I would be doing what I want. Thank you, Dad, I love you and I will never forget all the good we had.

(0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
Number two
(Cut to clips of "American Pie Bakery" as James does a voiceover.)


James Faraci (Voiceover):
Having to go through eight movies in three months was maddening, I had to sit through so much gross-out humor that knowing that there had a plot, character development and so many great moments inside what could've been mindless drivel, I mean, I DID get a sense of some disturbing moments that would shock normal people and for those who were wondering, I used the Unrated versions of the movies which put a lot more gross-out moments and moments of what Awkward Ashleigh would say "Titties". So that added a secondary source of turbulence. Because watching those movies was a litmus test I wouldn't wish on that certain Meshuggina Fegulah Schmuck from Chicago. However I do feel a sense of achievement that I survived all eight movies and got through them in a three month span. And apparently everyone loved how much filth and jokes about bodily functions/fluids, I could cram into the three months. Also how much Sean William Scott's Stiffler made me glad as to how far I've come. A lot of pie, made me glad about how far I've grown since the days of Wine and of course "The Pie"

(Scene begins with a laser hitting a slab of Titanium as the music of the 1994 American Gladiators opening theme plays the angle of the camera goes into the laser as three shadowed figures with a lasered outlines appear as the shadows reveal themselves to be James Faraci in the center, Paulo Fonseca on the right and Rebecca Yaun on the left as their names appear above the characters. As the three-run out of frame moving forward, four more shadowed figures with lasered outlines appear and the shadows reveal themselves as Brenda Fonseca on the right, Nick Yaun on the left, and John and Mike Santos and their names appear above the characters. As they run out of frame moving forward, five more shadowed figures with lasered outlines appear as they reveal themselves to be Renee Miller and Eric Kurtzke on the right, Andrew Beach and Ed Champion on the left, and Olivia Horvath appears in the center as their names appear above the characters. As they run out of frame credits of “Written and directed by James Faraci, Edited by Eric Kurtzke, Makeup by Olivia Horvath Produced by First Choice Productions” as it ends the Laser beam disappears and at the 0:28 mark of the theme song the words “The” “Last” “Of” “The” appear. At the 0:32-0:36 mark, the word “Americans” start to come forward as it pulls down, and  James’ Morpher and Sonic Screwdriver is flung into the frame as James grabs both and morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. The Laser returns to cut out the Number)

James Faraci (Voiceover):
And The Number One Best moment of 2020 which by and large is a miracle 
(Cut to clips of "Living With The "Life As A Mermaid"" review as James does a voiceover)


James Faraci (Voiceover):
This started out as a request for the final season of that series by someone who wanted to like the series and it bloomed from there. I realized if I were to just talk about the season itself it would just be one chapter instead of the whole story. So I had decided to re-watch every little bit of minutia involved with the series and it reminded me why I loved the series. Plus, it gave me a chance to see the progression of where it began and where I can now say that "Life As A Mermaid" is over and done. I had tried to split the fan of the series I was and I still am to this day and the Reviewer that I am. I tried to be objective in the review but I had to ask intelligent questions about things that I had. Also for the record as I watched the last two seasons in their original run those questions were coming to me then. I asked them in my review of this series because if I didn't, it would haunt me. Also, I have to mention an update in the Amazon Prime uploads, except the first season which was the shorts and the fun little minisodes in-between seasons, everything else in the main series has been uploaded in its correct order, so that's positive. The negative seems to be that there has been a bit of a falling out between myself and certain people involved in the series. Maybe it's because I didn't get permission to review it from the people who produced it, maybe it was something I said or did in said review. Whatever I did I am using this moment to apologize for whatever I said or did in this review. I hope that in the new year we can somehow rebuild our relationships, professional and/or personal, and move forward on what we can do together! But even if there has been a negative, I'm hoping we can correct it and turn it into a positive or something we can joke about in the future. (Cut to James physically)

James Faraci:
Speaking of the future, what will 2021 bring about? Hopefully, my movie even if I have to make several adjustments to what I need and who I put in it. Also at the time of this post, I am once again re-posting ALL of my Backlog again on Manic-Expression.com, then you may have noticed big gaps which I will fill in with my "Summer Of Summer Spectaculars", which will be all of the summer specials I did over the past few years and I will be re-posting them on the site, I'll have my usual workload but I will have a few surprises up my sleeve and starting 2021 well (James pulls out his Morpher and the tone of the Morpher sounds like "Moves Like Jagger" as James morphs back into James Faraci The Last Of The Americans.)

TLOTA:
Well judging by the sounds you're hearing, I'm going to be well not as negative in 2021. I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and guess what... (Cut to a green-screened image of the Galaxy where it looks like James is rippling through the cosmos)

TLOTA (Singing):
It goes a little something like this, watch him and he'll show ya! Look at him take control because he's Cool like Keanu, Yeah, Yeah, he's cool like Keanu, You know he coo-ooo-ool like Keanu! Watching him take control yeah, watch him and he'll show you how to be Cool Like Keanu, You gonna be cool like Keanu. You gonna be Coo-ooo-ool like Keanu! ("Moves like Jagger" sound-alike ends as it cuts to black)

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