"Not Much Has Changed in 6,000 Years."

I grew up watching the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" back in the early 1990's; I actually remember the first episode I ever watched. I believe one of my sisters was home sick, and I stayed home to help take care of her, together we stumbled onto the Power Rangers where a giant toad was terrorizing the Rangers. And that's how it all started for me. I kept pretty close track of the series until 1999 or so, and then the show just went down from there and in my opinion never recovered. That may be due to my growing maturity and therefore disinterest in the corny show, but also from the snippets I came across where the production was lackluster as was the stories. Since I grew up with the show it had always been my desire to one day see a good film adaptation of it done, and I honestly would love to have written the screenplay and story. Luckily for me I may yet still get the opportunity one day. When I heard that a big screen adaptation of the Power Rangers was going to be done I was interested to see what was going to happen, and eventually after the trailer and other parts came out I knew it was going to be quite dreadful. After watching Power Rangers the other day, I have to say it was most likely a huge waste of my time. Honestly, the film really isn't worth reviewing in depth. The only good part was the prologue at the beginning of the film which was fascinating, but didn't last long, everything else was simply bad. Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa was perhaps the only good part, and Bill Hader as Alpha 5 made me laugh on occasion, and Bryan Cranston as Zordon could have been amazing but fell flat. What the creators did was attempt a direct adaptation to the screen based on the original source material, which they did a horrendous job with even that, and in the end that approach just doesn't work. They need to do the George Lucas or Christopher Nolan approach, which is you take the essence of something and breath new and creative life that is completely different from the original into it thereby creating something entirely new. In order for this franchise to ever be successful this is what needs to be done, but unfortunately there is a severe shortage of good writers and idea makers in Hollywood at the time. As to why that is.....well, one could only speculate. If you never heard of the Power Rangers, don't watch this film, and if you have, go be nostalgic and watch the original on Netflix, but do not waste your time on this film whatsoever.
Now onto something far more interesting, I just finished reading the biography on former U.S. President John Quincy Adams who served as the 6th president of the United States of America. Wow! What a fascinating man Mr. J. Q. Adams was. He served under George Washington and with Abraham Lincoln; he met and knew Benjamin Franklin, Marquis de Lafayette, and the Duke of Wellington; he had lunch and was good friends with the Russian Czar Alexander I; met and worked with individuals such as Napoleon, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Marshall, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, King George III, Charles Dickens. He was foreign minister to at least 6 different countries, served 8 years as Secretary of State for James Monroe; negotiated the peace treaty for the war of 1812, freed the African prisoners on the ship Amistad, and served sixteen years in the U.S. House of Representatives after serving one term as U.S. President. He was fierce abolitionist and fought and died on the House floor fighting for the equal rights for all men and women in the United States of America. He spoke several language fluently, and could write in several of them as well. For fun he would translate Cicero from Greek into French. He read the ancient Greek philosophers to pass the time. He was a brilliant man, and perhaps the finest U.S. Secretary of State to have ever served. On paper, he seemed like he would have been an amazing president, but his inability to connect with the average American is what doomed his presidency, not to mention his aloofness to politics. In many ways he was ahead of his time, but simultaneously his political thinking was trapped in the times of George Washington and the country was changing drastically. Basically, a fantastic parallel is Hillary Clinton and President Trump where Clinton is John Quincy Adams (minus the president bit) and Trump is Jackson. Trump and Jackson are very similar in temperament and personality, and the same somewhat for Clinton and Adams, although he was a very upstanding and moral man with unquestionable integrity and the same could not probably be said for Ms. Clinton. However just like Clinton, Adams could not connect with the average American which is why he only served one presidential terms, but he went on to the House of Representatives after that and became a great statesman and fought with such zeal and passion that he died on that very floor fighting against slavery.  There is so much about this incredible President that I could write about, but in Harlow Giles Unger's biography of John Quincy Adams you should read it for yourself. It was a very well written biography; short and sweet to the point covering all of the pertinent details without waffling on about everyone in his life needlessly. So now I move onto my next U.S. President; Abraham Lincoln. Five down, thirty-nine more to go. I really encourage everyone to read biographies on U.S. Presidents as it's a great way to learn U.S. history, and the individuals and issues that shaped it.
Power Rangers opening scene
U.S. President John Quincy Adams documentary
Star Trek Discovery feature