This product was sent to us through Amazon Vine and since our account was restricted from reviewing it on their platform, it’s now here for your reading pleasure!
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Adults and children can benefit from protecting their Switch from drops, dings, and general wear and tear. I was disappointed that this protective kit did not include a screen protector. I would highly recommend purchasing a screen protector along with this case for all-around protection.
One of the biggest benefits of this protective case is how it makes holding the Switch much more comfortable with the bulkier controller grips. Before I had this case, I was using third party controllers that have a similar shape and lack the drifting defect that plagues the Nintendo branded controllers. Although it’s a tight fit, my Lizard Skinned controllers do fit in this case.
This product was sent to us through Amazon Vine and since our account was restricted from reviewing it on their platform, it’s now here for your reading pleasure!
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I’ve had the pleasure of playing many Sonic games growing up and have shown them to my kids along with the movies. Unsurprisingly, they’re fans of the series. Sonic is a likeable character and my son does a pretty good voice impersonation of him. I ordered this light with him in mind.
This night light can be powered by 3 AA batteries or with the included micro USB cable. A 5V AC adapter is not included. What you will find is the base, 3 interchangeable 2D Sonic see-through poses, and a remote control to configure the base’s color scheme.
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You can hard lock the color to various shades of red, green, blue, white, and mixtures in between. In total, there are sixteen color options. By default, the colors will rotate automatically. You can adjust the brightness and animation type to flash, strobe, fade, and smooth.
The three Sonic poses have him running, giving a thumbs up, or in a fighting stance wielding a sword. You’ll have to peel off a protective wrapper before inserting the pose of your choice into the base.
Overall, this is a nice looking light that works well on a computer desk. My teenage son is a bit old for a nightlight, but he does like using this as a decoration on his desk. The asking price of under $20 is reasonable. Any Sonic fans looking to spruce up their room or gaming environment should check this lamp out!
This product was sent to us through Amazon Vine and since our account was restricted from reviewing it on their platform, it’s now here for your reading pleasure!
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Our previous comforter set has served us well for a few years and the brown ribbon lining on it has been coming off more and more as of late. Given that our cats and dog often rest on it throughout the day and usually at night, it still smelled like animals, despite washing it multiple times in a row. Long story short, it was time for a new one!
We recently moved and many of the walls in our house are grey. I thought that this grey and white comforter set would blend in nicely with our grey walls, dark bed frame, and white trim. Overall, I’m pleased with how this comforter looks in our room.
This product was sent to us through Amazon Vine and since our account was restricted from reviewing it on their platform, it’s now here for your reading pleasure!
I’ve been using a Vivofit 2 for several years and it finally gave up the ghost. My daughter had a Vivofit 4 that suffered from an expanding battery that has a risk of exploding. With those two issues happening simultaneously in my household, I thought it was an appropriate time to try a different brand. For under $40, the Hongmed Smart Watch looks like a good deal. At the time of writing this review, you can save an extra $4 by applying a 10% off coupon on Amazon.
Like many electronics, you should fully charge the watch before using it. I was surprised to find that the watch straps are not factory installed so set aside a couple of minutes to do that. Once the watch is charged and fully assembled, it’s time to download the free app and configure it.
The app has four tabs with the first one displaying the steps, distance, and calories burned. You can customize your daily step goal; I try to do at least 10,000 steps a day. A strange quirk with this tab is that your goal will display zero if you have already exceeded it. However, if you swipe down on your phone, it will display the complete stats.
The second tab in the app will show you the quality of your sleep. Not only will it show you how long you slept, but how much of it was deep versus light sleep. The health tab will trigger the watch to calculate your heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature on command. From the watch interface, you can retrieve your heart rate and temperature, but not your blood pressure.
The fourth tab lets you track various exercises using your phone’s GPS tracking. You can track walking, running, cycling, climbing, and swimming this way. On the bottom of the app, you’ll find a device icon which will enable you to customize your notifications, alarms, and reminders. You can also download different watch face designs or upload your own from here. The watch face marketplace is slow, but functional. After a couple of tries, I was able to set a background picture of my smiling bearded dragon as my watch’s wallpaper. If you grant the app enough permissions you can take remote selfies with it.
From the watch I can control my music player and see the weather. Unfortunately, the weather is displayed in Celsius, which I am not used to. You can turn the watch into a makeshift flashlight or use it to help you locate your misplaced phone.
This watch is IP67 waterproof which withstands rain just fine. Out of habit, I have worn it into the shower a couple of times and it survived the process. The battery lasts over a week on a single charge, so I’m happy with its performance.
All in all, this is an excellent watch for the money. It has many great features and the reminders to move and drink water regularly help me to live a healthier lifestyle. I have few years to go before I need to enable the medicine reminders!
Thank you Universal Studios for sending us this Blu-ray to review!Minions: The Rise of Gru is a prequel that gives you a little bit of insight into Gru’s childhood in the 70s. At the tender age of eleven and three quarters, his role models were a group of villains called the Vicious 6. After betraying their leader, Wild Knuckles, they had an open p...
Thank you Roadside Attractions for sending us a screener of this film to review!
Gigi & Nate is based off of the true story of Ned Sullivan and his capuchin monkey service animal. The film begins with Gigi the capuchin monkey being rescued from a poorly maintained petting zoo that looks like a run-down travelling circus. The group that rescues Gigi trains her to be a service animal.
Meanwhile, Nate is living it up as a teenager in North Carolina and he completes a dare to dive from a high waterfall ledge. Little does he know that this dive will give him meningitis, which only has a 20% survival rate. Thankfully, Nate survives but is wheelchair bound and in pain. His parents have to sell the North Carolina property and move to Tennessee to build him wheelchair accessible accommodations and hire a caregiver and a physical therapist.
Nate is very depressed and is not making much progress with his physical therapy. His mom looks into service animals and introduces the family to Gigi. Not everyone is onboard with the idea of having a monkey in the house. (Especially their dog!)
It takes Gigi a while to be comfortable enough with Nate to help him with his therapy. The family almost returned her! When Gigi starts helping Nate, she really makes a difference with his mental health and physical dexterity. She helps Nate with reading books by turning the pages for him and Gigi also helps him with grocery shopping. That’s when Gigi gets the attention of an animal rights activist who pushes for banning capuchin monkeys as service animals. The family and town will have to fight to keep Nate and Gigi together.
I’ll leave the rest of the details as a surprise since I don’t want to spoil this heartwarming film. There are some appropriateness issues worth noting before showing this film to younger kids. Some mild language (hell and sh*t) is present. Nate and Gigi attend a college party which starts trending on social media as both of them consume alcohol there.
If you’re looking for a comedy film, Gigi & Nate isn’t it. However, it is a touching story that shows that it’s not always humans rescuing animals, but it’s sometimes the other way around. The actors do a great job and the picture quality is great. I highly recommend this film if you don’t mind the language and alcohol usage.
Thank you Paramount for sending us a digital copy of this move to review!
I’m a long time fan of Mel Brooks and I haven’t seen his name in recent movies until Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. Not only does Mel Brooks lend his voice to The Shogun, but he contributed to the screenplay. There are some similarities between this computer-animated film and his classic: Blazing Saddles. And yes, there’s a hilarious bean and fire scene in Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.
The film begins with a high-ranking official, Ika Chu (voiced by Ricky Gervais), anticipating a visit from The Shogun. In order to impress The Shogun, he wants his palace to be immaculate and doesn’t like the “eye sore” village of Kakamucho ruining the view of the landscape. Wiping this village off of the map isn’t easy and this town is known for being under the protection of a powerful samurai.
Kakamucho’s samurai eventually turns tail and leaves the town to be raided by Ika Chu’s thugs. The town reaches out to The Shogun to send a replacement and he tasks Iku Chu to supply a replacement. Ika Chu has to obey the order despite not wanting to aid the town. To fulfil the order and cripple the town, Ika Chu has the brilliant idea of sending a canine prisoner, Hank (voiced by Michael Cera), who is about to be executed to the all feline town of Kakamucho as their Samurai.
Hank wants to be a samurai, but lacks the training. Fortunately, there’s a retired Samurai, Jimbo (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson), in Kakamucho who begrudgingly begins training him. Throughout the training, you’ll see some humor and multiple instances of breaking the fourth wall. While Hank is training, Iku Chu is planning more attacks on the town before The Shogun arrives. Iku Chu’s personal guard, Ohga, is voice by George Takei and you’ll hear his signature phrase ‘Oh my!” used multiple times in this film. While there is no swearing, Samuel L. Jackson’s character utters the phrase “what the mother-father cocker spaniel is going on here?” Violence is a given and there are many cartoon-like battles throughout the film. Even though you’ll see an arrow going through a character’s hand, no blood is shown.
My family enjoyed watching Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank together, though we’re not in a rush to watch it again. We had some laughs, but it’s not anywhere near the caliber of Blazing Saddles.
Thank you Paramount for sending us this Blu-Ray to review!
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 picks up after the first movie with Doctor Eggman trying to make the best of living on a distant planet filled with various mushrooms. He unsuccessfully tries to make a mushroom-infused coffee while contemplating on ways to leave the planet and getting revenge on Sonic. With the help of one of Sonic’s quills, Doctor Eggman is able to generate power and send an SOS beacon which gets the attention of Knuckles, who is also trying to locate Sonic. Knuckles is under the impression that Sonic knows the location of a powerful emerald that grants the wishes of its owner.
Meanwhile, Sonic is still living with the Wachowskis who treat him like a son. In the middle of the night, Sonic moonlights as a superhero, but often leaves chaos and disorder after his attempts at justice. After Sonic’s latest justice attempt makes the front page of the morning paper, Tom Wachowski and Sonic have a man-to-man talk about growing into their roles and not diving in prematurely. Shortly after this conversation, the Wachowskis head to Hawaii for a wedding.
Sonic enjoys having the house to himself, but it’s not long before he has unexpected company. Tails locates Sonic and warns him that Knuckles and Eggman are looking for him. Upon meeting Knuckles, Sonic and Tails realize that their brains and speed are no match for his strength. A tactical retreat is necessary so they can form a battle plan to have a chance against Knuckles and Doctor Eggman’s minions.
Doctor Eggman has a loyal lackey, Agent Stone, who runs a café shop. Agent Stone is either obsessed or in love with Eggman as he often makes latte art of Dr. Robitnik in his customers drinks. When Eggman comes in town, he sets up his headquarters at Agent Stone’s coffee shop. Chaos shortly ensues, but I’ll leave the rest of those details out so I don’t spoil this movie for you.
Other than Agent Stone’s fascination with Doctor Eggman, there are some other moral issues to be addressed in this PG-rated film. Slapstick violence is commonplace and you’ll see people beat up, blown up, and crushed, but no blood or death is shown. Language has some near misses for the sake of humor. In the beginning of the movie as Doctor Eggman is leaving the mushroom planet, he says that he’s leaving the Shiitake planet. Last but not least, lying and deception is shown by multiple characters.
If you enjoyed the first Sonic film, this sequel is definitely worth checking out. If you haven’t seen the first movie, I strongly suggest watching that before this one. A third movie is hinted at and has a target release date of December 2024. I look forward to the latest installment. In the meantime, this Blu-Ray (with Dolby Atmos support) can be yours for under $23 on Amazon.
Thank you Paramount for providing us access to a digital screener to review!
Secret Headquarters begins with a picture-perfect (Kincaid) family of three on a camping trip together. Just as the mother is about to play some acoustic guitar by the campfire, there’s an explosion in the night sky and a ship comes tumbling down a couple of miles away from their location. Since they’re in the middle of nowhere, the father (Owen Wilson), drives down to the crash site to offer assistance.
Upon arriving at the crash site, Mr. Kincaid finds a wounded pilot near the wreckage of a U.F.O. Near the alien ship is a hovering orb that rejects the military officer as its new owner, but accepts Mr. Kincaid as becoming its new guardian.
This alien artifact allows its owner to see futuristic events and produces energy far beyond any means available on Earth. The orb also creates structures and useful gadgets surpassing anything humanity can presently do. With this new technology, Mr. Kincaid becomes a superhero named The Guard who travels around the world at supersonic speed to stop crime. With great superpowers comes great sacrifices. The time commitment of saving the world from crime costs Mr. Kincaid his family as his wife files for divorce and their son hardly has a relationship with him anymore because of all of his “business trips”.
Thank you Cinergy for providing us with dinner and a movie!My husband and I had the pleasure of visiting the newly opened Cinergy Dine-In Cinema in Wheeling, Illinois. We got to dine on $4.99 Sour Patch Kids Candy, a $14.49 Kong Burger, and a $13.49 BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger while watching Thor: Love and Thunder. We sparingly drank our fountain drinks...
Thank you RLJE Films for sending us a Blu-ray to review!
I Am Mortal takes place 213 years into the future in the year 2235. According to this film, mankind pretty much dresses the same way (in the 2020s) and occasionally reads paperback books still. It’s assumed that humanity has been through some devastating warfare as the main city is in a domed environment and much of the Earth’s surface is barren. The main character, Logos, is a terraforming engineer trying to restore the land to its pre-devastated state.
Humanity’s leader refers to himself as “The Pilot” and he believes that God is a fantasy and that free will is undesirable. His gods are science and technology and he has discovered a way to modify people’s genes and wipes their memory if they defy his orders. In order to fit into The Pilot’s society, people must take a daily medication called “maintenance” that keeps them compliant and suppresses their critical thinking abilities.
When The Pilot deems people to be at their peak, he grants them the opportunity to become immortal in exchange for their service and compliance. Logos is days away from his gift of immortality, but he’s not looking forward to it as much as he thinks he should be. Sensing Logos’ hesitation, a group of rebels contact him to let him know that he’s not alone. The resistance group meets in an abandoned church and wants to tamper with the maintenance medication to let humanity know that God has a purpose for them and that they are intended to die in order to truly live.
We recently moved and for some crazy reason, we decided to stay in Illinois which has a variety of weather conditions. After being in our house for a couple of months, we realized that the outdoor faucet needed to be replaced. Two plumber calls later, it was replaced. The first plumber was trying to overcharge us so always get multiple quotes for work! $375 later (and $300 less than our first quote), we had a new faucet installed.
With a shiny new faucet installed, we should protect it from the elements to help it last longer. Thankfully, faucet covers like the Toovren Outdoor Faucet Cover is inexpensive and super easy to install.
Thank you Lionsgate for sending us this Blu-ray to review!
American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story is based on a true and remarkable story. Kurt Warner is considered the NFL’s greatest undrafted player. Kurt was inspired by Joe Montana’s Superbowl XIX performance and actually broke his record in Super Bowl XXIV. However, it took him a long time to get into the NFL.
During college, Kurt spent four years on the bench because the coach there didn’t like his playing style. I’m not savvy on football terms, but apparently Kurt didn’t stay in the pocket enough. When he did play, he did extremely well.
While in college, Kurt met Brenda, a divorced mother of two with one of them being blind. Their relationship had highs and lows and Kurt had to prove that he was going to treat her better than her ex-husband. Eventually Kurt got noticed by the Green Bay Packers, but only lasted two days in their training camp.
The King’s Man is a prequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle. This origin story takes place in 1902 with Orlando (the Duke of Oxford), his wife, Emily, and their son, Conrad, supplying provisions through the Red Cross. A marksman’s bullet takes the life of Emily and wounds the Duke’s leg. Before she dies, Emily makes Orlando promise that their young son won’t see warfare again.
Fast forward twelve years during World War I and Conrad is a strapping young teenager and instead of pursuing females, he wants to jump into the battlefield to protect his country. The Duke has high-ranking military official friends who can only deter Conrad so much. In a last-ditch effort to convince him that there are other ways to save the country instead of being on the battlefield, the Duke takes Conrad on an undercover mission to assassinate Grigori Rasputin. Though the mission was successful, it didn’t change Conrad’s mind and he enlists anyway.
My family saw the first computer animated Addams Family movie in the theaters in 2019. The film was mildly entertaining, but mostly a disappointment. I’m happy to report that overall we found this sequel to be better than the original movie on many fronts.
The Addams Family 2 begins at Wednesday’s science festival which has many uninspiring science projects including the typical baking soda volcano. Wednesday’s entry is quite fascinating as it transfers the intelligence of her octopus, Socrates, into her Uncle Fester. When it comes time to announcing the winner of the science fair, Wednesday is visibly disappointed when everyone is given a participation trophy. The professor takes note of her disappointment and consoles her while asking for her data so he can improve upon her work. Wednesday tells him it’s a family secret.
Gomez Addams also takes note of his daughter’s disappointment, but she rebuffs any attention and consolation he offers her. In an effort to strengthen the family bonds, Gomez and Morticia decide that a family road trip is in order. Instead of bringing the family closer, a wedge is further driven between Wednesday and her family. Apparently, she discovers a mix-up of babies at the hospital she was born in and wonders if she is even an Addams.
We’ve been running this niche site for over twenty years now. We do have some paid reviewers, but many like my husband and I are still volunteer. We’re blessed to have our basic expenses like server hosting fees covered by the generosity of Patreon and Paypal supporters. Our paid reviewers get a small sum of $25 per review, which is more of a gesture of appreciation than a sustainable living wage.
This month, my husband’s employer gave him an ultimatum to be vaccinated or unemployed come February. Given that we have natural immunity from recovering from covid, we feel that his mandate is both unnecessary and unconstitutional. With a potential job loss in the near future, we have to evaluate our financial situation.
My husband and I both work since this site doesn’t generate much income. We’re happy to keep it running as we see it as a worthwhile ministry to help parents and Christians determine which games are suitable for their family.
We’ve recently been blessed with over 3,000 Twitch followers. With a milestone like that comes opportunities. This week we’ve been offered a sponsorship opportunity for Raid Shadow Legends which I realize is a meme at this point. With that said, it’s hard to turn down an extra $150 when the site typically brings in $400/month. Would we be selling out to do streams of this nature? Other Streaming opportunities from Daredrop and Compassion International hit my mailbox this week as well so I’ll be looking into those.
Currently, YouTube and Twitch streams do not provide us with any income. We have yet to get a payout from either platform. We really appreciate our Patreon, Ko-Fi, and Paypal donators. We still have yet to get our first Subscribestar supporter. As a way of saying thanks to them, we’ll be posting a game giveaway code every day this month. Thanks for your encouragement and support!
Thank you PBS for sending us the season one Blu-ray! All Creatures Great & Small starts off in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1930s. The main character is James Herriot who wishes to become a veterinarian instead of having to do manual labor to make ends meet. Just when all of the nearby opportunities fizzled out, he receives a letter for an intervie...
Here’s our 2021 Christmas buying guide! Below are our favorite gadgets and family appropriate titles we have played throughout the year. More reviews can be found on ChristCenteredGamer.com! Each game is given a gameplay score for the overall gaming experience and a moral score for how suitable it is for younger gamers. The Amazon and Humble Store ...
Thank you tomtoc for sending us the Urban Minimalist EDC Sling Bag and Switch Pro Controller Case!
Tomtoc was founded in 2016 and they pride themselves on designing fashionable and tech-savvy products for protecting your digital gear. They have a wide range of products for laptops, tablets, the Nintendo Switch and other gadgets.
We were blessed with an opportunity to review two of their products which are the Switch Pro Controller Case and the Urban Minimalist EDC Sling Bag. Both products are well designed and are bound to last a while.
Thank you NoSweat for sending us review samples of hat, face shield, and visor liners!
NoSweat is based in Minnetonka Minnesota and all of their sports-themed liners are manufactured in America. All thirty-one NHL teams are using their products on a regular basis. In addition to the NHL, athletes in the NFL, MLB, PGA, and WTA use NoSweat inserts consistently too.
NoSweat has products for baseball, biking, football, golf, hardhats, hockey, lacrosse, tennis, and even VR headsets! If you’re a fan of their stuff you can advertise for them by wearing branded t-shirts, hats, and using their thermos’ offered on their web store.
Out of the samples sent our way, the only set I was able to use were the ones designed for baseball hats. I don’t own any face shields or visors. I have a couple of lighter-colored hats that have unsightly brownish stained front liners since I haven’t used any liners previously. It’s worth noting that these liners are only designed to be used three to five times apiece.
