Marvel does it again?

May 6th, 2011

Short answer is… YES!

Once again Marvel rolls out a summer comic sensation. Of all the recant titles being cranked out by Marvel, Thor was the one I was most hesitant about. How were they going to adapt the norse god into a universe so grounded into reality. Well, not only did they, but they did so in the best way possible. Preserving the element of Magic by blending magic and science, they have gone on to expand the potential for the entire marvel world with a whole new angle.

OK, Marvel fanboy gush over, time to focus on the meat and potatoes of the film itself. Visually it has a whole new look compared to the other marvel films. Brought to it by Kenneth Branagh, who previously was known mostly for his drama work such as ’96s Hamlet, his first real outing into the action comic genera shows much potential. I was suppressed at the heavy use of dutch angles, myself.

The film’s leads are split with me. Chris Hemsworth, hot on the heels of playing James T. Kirk’s father in the 2009 Star Trek Reboot, is simply Thor. Every moment that he is on the screen that is what/who he is. He so owns the character that you can’t even think of someone else playing him.

However, the female lead, played by Natalie Portman, was a little overshadowed. She suffers of late from playing Portman, rather than playing a character. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t bad. I just felt that she didn’t bring the character so much as herself, to the role.

I have to say all of the supporting actors were great from the secondary characters to the background people, what we get. Clark Gregg is always enjoyable as S.H.I.E.L.D. Senior Agent Coulson. Kat Dennings totally owned the part of the nerdy sidekick. Anthony Hopkins was awesome as Odin… But really, is Anthony Hopkins ever not awesome?

All in all, a highly enjoyable film I recommend going to see. Avoid the 3D showings. This is a conversion film (not shot natively in 3D), and it brings nothing to the table. It’s an added price for little to no benefit, stick with 2D on this one.

Other than that I can only say that it further enhances my love for the Marvel world of films and raises hope for their next project, Captain America: The first Avenger.

I leave you with the Thor Trailer.

Zack Snyder’s Feminist Street Fight With Geeks, Gamers, and Nerds.

April 2nd, 2011

Sucker Punch: is a common street fighting technique. Experts may feign fear or friendliness to put their opponent off guard or approach him from the side or rear to deliver a surprise blow.

That is exactly what Snyder threw when he made this film, even with the MPAA and Warner Brothers getting in the way, and I can’t wait till we can see his unfiltered directors cut see light of day on DVD/Bluray. Anyway, Snyder has thrown out all normal and even most abnormal narrative structures in a genius (and perhaps misguided?) attempt to turn the the mirror upon the male members of the genre community, specifically the group comprised of Geeks, Gamers, and Nerds. What we end up with is a three tiered structure that thrives in it’s obscurity, and revels in it’s disorientating effect to hide it’s real purpose but which utterly fails as a general audience movie overall because of it. Perhaps if it had been a small budget Avant-garde independent film, or a series of short films, instead of a deep and deeply troubled story in a pop genre action wrapper.

Though many will get lost in it’s intertwined levels of harsh reality, coping illusion, and pure flights of fantasy. More will be confused by the lack of the traditional narrative. Even more will think it’s chauvinist and sexist because the fail to grasp the irony in the girls overtly sexual image. I must insist that people see this movie and keep an open mind. Don’t be quick to snap judgment, try and forgive the film for it’s flaws. If you can’t see the deeper messages and social commentary, you can still enjoy one hell of a good looking movie.

Snyder brings his unique and beautiful visual style into this movie full stream, presenting one of the best visual experiences of the modern era. At least in this reviewers not so humble opinion. His use of colors, or the lack there of, lighting, variable film speed, and unique shot composition, all blend together into an almost living graphic novel.

And, if for nothing else, we should support this film to show Hollywood that we want and are willing to see movies which are new, original, and different. Above and beyond the typical lineup of of sequels, remakes, and cookie cutter flotsam.

No one’s posting anything!

February 22nd, 2011

So I saw Unknown on Friday. I was pretty not impressed until about 3/4 through when all the sudden it got awesome. I may have just been really tired though because my friend I saw it with thought it was really awesome all the way through.

It starts from the get go as this giant mystery with very little time to get to know the characters beforehand which originally was why I wasn’t loving it. I didn’t care very much whether or not the guy’s wife remembered him. Who is he? Who gives a crap? Then as the story unfolded and we found our way to the twist at the end I discovered that it was very important that we didn’t know the characters well and I forgave them.

I probably wouldn’t have paid to see this movie but my friend works at the theater so I got in free. Overall it was a pretty good movie that I just didn’t love very much.

It’s all quiet up in here.

January 27th, 2011

So it’s been like a week since anyone posted anything and I just wanted to let everyone know that we’re still alive and still working on this. We’re just kind of busy with the closing of the store and all the snowstorms and such.

So a real quick rundown:


See

If you exist:
Red
Seriously, this movie is excellent and I haven’t talked to anyone who saw it who didn’t think it was incredibly enjoyable.

If you’re a Beatles fan:
Nowhere Boy
It’s a pretty interesting look at the early life of John Lennon.

If you, like me, totally love movies that are so bad they’re good:
Season of the Witch
This movie had very few actual redeeming qualities except that it was so much fun to make fun of. Imagine taking a buddy cop movie starring Nic Cage and Hellboy and setting it in the 1300s and not changing any of the dialogue. It’s pretty much that.

Don’t see
Takers
This movie wasn’t horrible it just wasn’t really all that good but definitely not bad enough to make it good again.

So this is the bad-good spectrum:
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This is the bad-good spectrum with the movies from this post inserted into it.
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Bob’s Green Hornet Review

January 16th, 2011

Hey everyone, Bob here. I guess I should start with an introduction. I’m the night guy at Blockbuster and if you’ve been there in the last five years, you probably know me. I’ll pretty much watch every type of movie as long as it doesn’t have a couple standing back to back on the cover or a woman with the face of a horse in it. Actually, while I’m on the subject, I’m also going to rule out flicks starring women who have already gone through menopause and act in a sassy manner as this is just intended to nauseate the viewer (in my opinion.)

I just got back from seeing “The Green Hornet” and was (surprisingly) not disappointed. If you’re not familiar with the character, Seth Rogen (every Judd Apatow movie ever) plays Britt Reid, the playboy son of James Reid presumably the last unbiased news reporter and the owner of The Daily Sentinel. After his father dies unexpectedly, Britt decides to honor his family name by taking up arms against the criminals running the streets of Los Angeles. Of course, all super heroes without powers need a sidekick and Britt is no exception.

He quickly gains the assistance of his father’s old mechanic Kato (Jay Chou), who just happens to be an expert in martial arts and weapon creation. Anyway, so Britt and Kato take to the streets. Britt dons the moniker of The Green Hornet and Kato assists as his nameless sidekick. The Green Hornet differentiates himself as a hero in one very different way, he wishes to be seen as a villain. This allows for him to infiltrate the underworld and destroy it from the inside. The main villain in this world is Chudnovsky played by Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds.) Waltz manages to toe the line between extremely over the top and downright scary quite well, especially considering the fact that later in the movie he starts to refer to himself as Bloodnovsky.

Despite the fact that Hornet is a superhero movie and was marketed as a family film, the first 10 minutes will clearly show that it is a strong PG-13. In this reviewer’s opinion, there is quite an overuse of foul language. Obviously any movie starring Seth Rogen is going to have some semblance of comedy in it and this one is no exception. The problem lies in the fact that most of the comedy boils down to sex jokes and euphemisms. However, I was happy with the fact that unlike other superhero movies, Hornet allows itself to show that there are repercussions to what the heroes actually do. Most heroes tend to live in some fantasy world where the villain knows who they are and they the villains, but nothing seems to happen. In the Hornet’s world, however, which is one of violence, the filmmakers were not afraid to show that people do tend to die when violent things happen. Once again I do not recommend this one to families looking to bring the smaller kids out for a nice weekend movie.

Despite some of it’s faults, “The Green Hornet” succeeds in being a fun, albeit over the top, action comedy. Chou does a great job of filling Bruce Lee’s shoes as the butt-kicking sidekick and Seth Rogen was convincing while beating the crap out of people, though Kato does most of the work. The only other shortcomings were some ridiculous stunts that didn’t make sense, I’m looking at you setting off missiles while buried underground. In summation, “The Green Hornet” is a fun little hero flick, just make sure you leave the young ones at home.