JUMANJI Continues

This is Christmas Eve, so I've got to share this video of 2-year old Aria Mojica getting a prank gift.  Her priceless reaction is what I vaguely remember of my early Christmases.  I don't have that feeling anymore.

I've evolved to the stage of not giving gifts.  Maybe I should adjust my attitude.  Here are seven reason why.

When I went to see the latest Star Wars, I also saw Jumanji:  The Next Level.  This is one of those films where Rotten Tomatoes reviewers did not particularly like it, while audiences did:  71% and 89%.

From Wikipedia:

The franchise is based on two books by Van Allsburg, Jumanji (1981) and its sequel Zathura (2002), which in turn resulted in four theatrical films, Jumanji (1995), Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). An animated television series aired from 1996 to 1999. The first film received mixed reviews from critics, while the three follow-up films received generally positive reviews. The films have collectively grossed $1.6 billion to date.

No one knows who invented the Jumanji board game.  The origin goes back into the 1800's, and the place means "many effects" in Zulu.

There is a gameboard, with four pawns, rhino figure, hour glass timer, dices, 30 danger cards, decoder, label sheet and instructions.  

There could be up to four players, and the winner is the one who gets to the center first.  If you truly want to know how this game is played, click here.

However, this board game was not available when I was a kid, for it was created by Milton Bradley in 1995 around the time of the first movie, Jumanji, starring Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, David Alan Grier, Bonnie Hunt, Jonathan Hyde and Bebe Neuwirth.  Williams is the person who got caught in the time warp, spending 26 years in Jumanji.  Rotten Tomatoes gave it poor ratings:  54% and 62%.  A video game arrived in 1996.

Then in 2017 came Jumanji:  Welcome to the Jungle, with Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gilan Hart and Nick Jonas.  Rotten Tomatoes gave 76%/87% scores.  

Finally, this year, Jumanji:  The Next Level.  Joining the cast were Awkwafina, Dany DeVito and Danny Glover.

There are now 7 video games, with the latest developed by Funsolve, and was released a month ago for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.

Will there be a Jumanji 4?  Well, the closing credits showed how the next one might begin, so, of course.  While December 2021 would be the logical release timeframe, The Rock has a DC movie, Black Adam, already scheduled for  opening in December of 2021.

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Typhoon Phanfone (also known as Ursula) made landfall over the Philippines today at 80 MPH.  Christmas typhoon?  The Western Pacific is warmer than the West Pacific or Atlantic Ocean.

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