Sunday, July 31, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 trailer
Yes there is a 3rd one. Honestly I like the Paranormal Activity movies. I prefer the style of horror that put people in seemingly real situations that we can relate to, and scare you with out a bunch of special effects and monsters and aliens. Its easier for you to put yourself into the characters shoes and ask yourself what would I do if that was me? Paranormal Activity is very good at this. Check out the trailer
OPENS OCTORBER 21, 2011
OPENS OCTORBER 21, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Why Captain America Sucked
Are you really surprised? Where you really watching the movie, eyes glued to the screen, thinking how awesome it was? Seriously, if you were, just leave now. This movie was just bathed in mediocrity.
Now Im not just going to destroy the movie because there were plenty of positives. The first of which being Chris Evans, who plays Steve Rogers. For someone who doesnt like the idea of seeing the same actor play as more than one hero in the same comic book movie universe, Evans being cast as Rogers was actually quite perfect. As the frail and skinny little man Rogers, he succeeds at being the wimp too well. He's likable for his guts and determination but you feel so bad for him that you just wanna hurry up and give him the super soldier serum out of pity. Best performance of the movie by far.
Tommy Lee Jones did serve the movie well as the smartass Colonel Philips. Also a likable character which provided some good humor.
I also did like the set up of the movie. From how it begins as a salvage team finding Captain buried and frozen in a wreck, with the main story basically being a flashback, and ending with him in present day New York. This serves more to Avengers movie releasing next year than to anything else but works me.
Now that was the good. Pretty much the rest I had problems with. First of which is how the movie seemed to mock and insult its own hero. So Steve takes the super soldier serum and does what again?? He's doing USO shows to sell bonds? What in the hell just happened? Did that just happen? Yes it did. He was a super soldier in a costume doing shows to sell products. Wow. Not only was this allowed to happen. It went on for like 20 damn minutes! The precise definition of anticlimactic. They made him into a cornball posterboy. The man had to pull a one man army, Call of Duty type mission just to get some respect.
After his transformation and that dreaded sequence of him performing in the USO, the action seemed to pick up and everything else seemed to fall off. The last half of the movie was basically just one big action scene. And at no point in the movie did we ever learn anything about anyone else in the movie or what the blue object was. Hugo Weaving who plays the Red Skull, is a great actor, and we have seen how good of a villain he can be. But to be the mad and powerful Red Skull he was just so....underwhelming. He confronted Captain America entirely too early in the movie with no build up or excitement at all. And for all his grand scheming and more advanced technology, his Hydra forces just got their asses kicked all through this movie. Look at the technology they had! US soldiers just mowed em down really.
Skull just seemed to be running away the entire movie.
The love story in movie was highly underdeveloped. Perhaps because Captain was never going to get a chance to be with her, it was decided not pursue that storyline. I feel that decision hurt the movie as the actress Hayley Atwell, who plays Peggy Carter, got so much screen time it was to be expected that the Captain would get the girl or at least have some sort of serious romance develop. But the chemistry never was truly there or given a chance to be. Not enough time in between all the battles.
In the end I have to say I am not happy with this adaption of Captain America. Ultimately I felt rushed through the process and that this movie was really only being used as a platform to set up the Avengers movie. In the beginning you were engaged with the little wimpy Steve and emotions were there, only to be sucked away by the complete 360 story took after his transformation. The drama was gone, as was any sense of character development or emotions for them (did you feel anything when his best friend died? were you given a chance to?). It was inconsistent and underdeveloped in too many areas. I liked Thor more. I hope they do better with the character in the Avengers.
FINAL GRADE: D+
Now Im not just going to destroy the movie because there were plenty of positives. The first of which being Chris Evans, who plays Steve Rogers. For someone who doesnt like the idea of seeing the same actor play as more than one hero in the same comic book movie universe, Evans being cast as Rogers was actually quite perfect. As the frail and skinny little man Rogers, he succeeds at being the wimp too well. He's likable for his guts and determination but you feel so bad for him that you just wanna hurry up and give him the super soldier serum out of pity. Best performance of the movie by far.
Tommy Lee Jones did serve the movie well as the smartass Colonel Philips. Also a likable character which provided some good humor.
I also did like the set up of the movie. From how it begins as a salvage team finding Captain buried and frozen in a wreck, with the main story basically being a flashback, and ending with him in present day New York. This serves more to Avengers movie releasing next year than to anything else but works me.
Now that was the good. Pretty much the rest I had problems with. First of which is how the movie seemed to mock and insult its own hero. So Steve takes the super soldier serum and does what again?? He's doing USO shows to sell bonds? What in the hell just happened? Did that just happen? Yes it did. He was a super soldier in a costume doing shows to sell products. Wow. Not only was this allowed to happen. It went on for like 20 damn minutes! The precise definition of anticlimactic. They made him into a cornball posterboy. The man had to pull a one man army, Call of Duty type mission just to get some respect.
After his transformation and that dreaded sequence of him performing in the USO, the action seemed to pick up and everything else seemed to fall off. The last half of the movie was basically just one big action scene. And at no point in the movie did we ever learn anything about anyone else in the movie or what the blue object was. Hugo Weaving who plays the Red Skull, is a great actor, and we have seen how good of a villain he can be. But to be the mad and powerful Red Skull he was just so....underwhelming. He confronted Captain America entirely too early in the movie with no build up or excitement at all. And for all his grand scheming and more advanced technology, his Hydra forces just got their asses kicked all through this movie. Look at the technology they had! US soldiers just mowed em down really.
Skull just seemed to be running away the entire movie.
The love story in movie was highly underdeveloped. Perhaps because Captain was never going to get a chance to be with her, it was decided not pursue that storyline. I feel that decision hurt the movie as the actress Hayley Atwell, who plays Peggy Carter, got so much screen time it was to be expected that the Captain would get the girl or at least have some sort of serious romance develop. But the chemistry never was truly there or given a chance to be. Not enough time in between all the battles.
In the end I have to say I am not happy with this adaption of Captain America. Ultimately I felt rushed through the process and that this movie was really only being used as a platform to set up the Avengers movie. In the beginning you were engaged with the little wimpy Steve and emotions were there, only to be sucked away by the complete 360 story took after his transformation. The drama was gone, as was any sense of character development or emotions for them (did you feel anything when his best friend died? were you given a chance to?). It was inconsistent and underdeveloped in too many areas. I liked Thor more. I hope they do better with the character in the Avengers.
FINAL GRADE: D+
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The Best of Ari Gold
In light of the greatest show ever made returning for a final season tomorrow night, I present to you the best moments from the greatest fictional agent in the world, Ari Gold:
Friday, July 22, 2011
The Walking Dead Season 2 trailer
Far as I'm concerned, AMC is the best channel on tv. They show all the best classics and now have 3 of the best, if not THE best shows on television, including Mad Men and Breaking Bad. This is trailer for the second season of the Walking Dead, the comic based series on AMC. Hopefully there's more than just the few episodes this season.
THE THING
Before you do anything, go on netflix and watch the original 1982 John Carpenter classic 'The Thing' staring Kurt Russell. A Great sci-fi horror classic that deserves a worthy prelude.
OPENS OCTOBER 14, 2011
Plot Summary: Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller "The Thing," paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they're infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet.
Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up.
When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew's pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish.
"The Thing" serves as a prelude to John Carpenter's classic 1982 film of the same name.
OPENS OCTOBER 14, 2011
Plot Summary: Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller "The Thing," paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they're infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet.
Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up.
When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew's pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish.
"The Thing" serves as a prelude to John Carpenter's classic 1982 film of the same name.
IMMORTALS
From the producers of 300 is the movie Immortals. It looks like a mix between Clash of the Titans and 300 as the story deals with Greek mythology and is visually produced like 300.
OPENS NOVEMBER 11, 2011
PLOT SUMMARY:
Tarsem Singh ("The Cell," "The Fall") and producers Gianni Nunnari ("300"), Mark Canton ("300") and Ryan Kavanaugh ("The Fighter") unleash an epic tale of treachery, vengeance and destiny in "Immortals," a stylish and spectacular 3D adventure. As a power-mad king razes ancient Greece in search of a legendary weapon, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful.
The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission.
As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity.
OPENS NOVEMBER 11, 2011
PLOT SUMMARY:
Tarsem Singh ("The Cell," "The Fall") and producers Gianni Nunnari ("300"), Mark Canton ("300") and Ryan Kavanaugh ("The Fighter") unleash an epic tale of treachery, vengeance and destiny in "Immortals," a stylish and spectacular 3D adventure. As a power-mad king razes ancient Greece in search of a legendary weapon, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful.
The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission.
As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL
The next installment of the Mission Impossible series. With every movie they seem to be doing bigger badder stunts in more exotic locales. The action scenes in the series are always top notch. The Dubai scene in the trailer looks pretty dope. Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker) is also in the movie. Hes a great actor and its nice to see him more big name blockbuster movies. I think he could be a solid action star and an even better bad guy. And Id like to thank whoever cast Paula Patton in this movie.
OPENS DECEMBER 16, 2011
OPENS DECEMBER 16, 2011
Captain America: The First Avenger today!
The Cap makes his debut today. From the first trailer to clips it just looks better and better. Check out this nice little shield fight clip:
My review coming soon.....
COMIC BOOK MOVIES SHOULD NOT BE MADE FOR KIDS
Before we begin just sit back, think, and let that marinate for minute.......
Good? Ok.
Of course, a question one would naturally ask first is since comics are made for kids, why wouldnt the movies be made suitable for them? Well first just look at the circumstances that made that hero who he or she is. For the biggest heroes, do you know what the common factor between them is? SOMEONE ALWAYS HAD TO DIE FIRST. Bruce Wayne's parents get killed right in front of him. Peter Parker's uncle gets shot. Blade's mother dies giving birth to him. Superman's whole planet gets destroyed. So based on these circumstances, how does one craft a lighter less tragic movie while still remaining a somewhat believable human story in the context of that characters world? You dont decide to risk your life day after day to save others because you had good easy life. Perhaps you can.....if you are making a cartoon.
Second, Villains are evil right? Not just bad. But EVIL. So an accurate depiction would be ones causing certain amounts of death and or destruction, yes? So much that only our hero can stop. Otherwise you could just call the cops to catch em. And they wouldnt be called villains they would just be called "bad guys". Take Sandman from Spiderman 3. He was so cooooooooorny. He was the diet coke of evil. Did he harm one person the whole movie? Honestly I dont remember. You could have just called the fire department to use water hoses on him. That movie still disgusts me to this day. These types of nonsensical characters cant be allowed if you want to reach the full potential in a movie.
In the end, it boils down to this. Tragedy must be portrayed and in a dark manner. The psychological effects of which need to be conveyed to the audience. We want to see the transformation from man to hero. And the struggle of that hero to be accepted or rejected in society while battling some great threat. This is called, the Nolan Formula. Named for Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins and Dark Knight, who revolutionized the genre. Nolan has a gift for playing to the psychology of the audience (see Memento, Inception). As you saw from Batman Begins, he took us on the journey of a young boy, who witnessed the murder of his parents, make himself to be the Batman. We saw his struggle every step of the way, his many mistakes and triumphs. Fighting people trying to destroy a city is not easy nor was portrayed to be. Ultimately Nolan answered the question: "If Batman were based in reality, what would he be like and how would we perceive him?"
And this is the question that needs to be applied to every other comic book hero. How would that character live in our world? People appreciate the realism more than the fantasy I believe. Fantasies are for children. Again, let them watch cartoons for that. Apply the Nolan Formula to any and every other comic book hero and tell me it couldnt work.
I am a bias Batman fan yes, and I know it wasnt the first comic book movie to use the formula. Michael Keaton's Batman kind of used it. Blade also did in a sense. But Blade is more of a vampire movie than a comic book hero movie in the traditional sense. You kind of forget or dont remember he is Marvel character. At least I dont anyway.
If you want to make the best possible movie using a good comic-based hero, the Nolan formula MUST be applied. Its the only way for that characters maximum potential to be reached. Whatever you do, DONT MAKE THE MOVIE FOR KIDS.
Good? Ok.
Of course, a question one would naturally ask first is since comics are made for kids, why wouldnt the movies be made suitable for them? Well first just look at the circumstances that made that hero who he or she is. For the biggest heroes, do you know what the common factor between them is? SOMEONE ALWAYS HAD TO DIE FIRST. Bruce Wayne's parents get killed right in front of him. Peter Parker's uncle gets shot. Blade's mother dies giving birth to him. Superman's whole planet gets destroyed. So based on these circumstances, how does one craft a lighter less tragic movie while still remaining a somewhat believable human story in the context of that characters world? You dont decide to risk your life day after day to save others because you had good easy life. Perhaps you can.....if you are making a cartoon.
Second, Villains are evil right? Not just bad. But EVIL. So an accurate depiction would be ones causing certain amounts of death and or destruction, yes? So much that only our hero can stop. Otherwise you could just call the cops to catch em. And they wouldnt be called villains they would just be called "bad guys". Take Sandman from Spiderman 3. He was so cooooooooorny. He was the diet coke of evil. Did he harm one person the whole movie? Honestly I dont remember. You could have just called the fire department to use water hoses on him. That movie still disgusts me to this day. These types of nonsensical characters cant be allowed if you want to reach the full potential in a movie.
In the end, it boils down to this. Tragedy must be portrayed and in a dark manner. The psychological effects of which need to be conveyed to the audience. We want to see the transformation from man to hero. And the struggle of that hero to be accepted or rejected in society while battling some great threat. This is called, the Nolan Formula. Named for Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins and Dark Knight, who revolutionized the genre. Nolan has a gift for playing to the psychology of the audience (see Memento, Inception). As you saw from Batman Begins, he took us on the journey of a young boy, who witnessed the murder of his parents, make himself to be the Batman. We saw his struggle every step of the way, his many mistakes and triumphs. Fighting people trying to destroy a city is not easy nor was portrayed to be. Ultimately Nolan answered the question: "If Batman were based in reality, what would he be like and how would we perceive him?"
And this is the question that needs to be applied to every other comic book hero. How would that character live in our world? People appreciate the realism more than the fantasy I believe. Fantasies are for children. Again, let them watch cartoons for that. Apply the Nolan Formula to any and every other comic book hero and tell me it couldnt work.
I am a bias Batman fan yes, and I know it wasnt the first comic book movie to use the formula. Michael Keaton's Batman kind of used it. Blade also did in a sense. But Blade is more of a vampire movie than a comic book hero movie in the traditional sense. You kind of forget or dont remember he is Marvel character. At least I dont anyway.
If you want to make the best possible movie using a good comic-based hero, the Nolan formula MUST be applied. Its the only way for that characters maximum potential to be reached. Whatever you do, DONT MAKE THE MOVIE FOR KIDS.
Why 2012 will be the greatest year for movies EVER.
BECAUSE THERES JUST THAT MANY GOOD DAMN MOVIES COMING OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here's a little list. See for yourself:
Dark Knight Rises
The Amazing Spiderman
The Avengers
The Bourne Legacy
Hunger Games
Underworld: Awakening
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Men in Black 3
Star Trek 2 (untitled)
Total Recall
The Expendables 2
G.I Joe 2
Resident Evil: Retribution
Dredd (as in Judge Dredd)
James Bond 23 (untitled)
The Hobbit
Ok maybe not alllll of them are gonna be good, but most. Still a damn good lineup, no? Besides the comic book movies a new Bourne and Bond? Yeah thats dope.
CANT WAIT
Here's a little list. See for yourself:
Dark Knight Rises
The Amazing Spiderman
The Avengers
The Bourne Legacy
Hunger Games
Underworld: Awakening
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Men in Black 3
Star Trek 2 (untitled)
Total Recall
The Expendables 2
G.I Joe 2
Resident Evil: Retribution
Dredd (as in Judge Dredd)
James Bond 23 (untitled)
The Hobbit
Ok maybe not alllll of them are gonna be good, but most. Still a damn good lineup, no? Besides the comic book movies a new Bourne and Bond? Yeah thats dope.
CANT WAIT
The Amazing Spiderman!
I would have to say The Amazing Spiderman is the second most anticipated movie of 2012 in a long line of blockbusters to be released next year (Do you really have to ask which is first?). This a reboot from the original trilogy directed by Sam Raimi and staring Tobey Maguire. Personally I think its going to kick the originals ass. Wanna hear why well hear it goes:
1. Tobey Maguire is not a good actor. Can you even name another movie he was in? Peter Parker is supposed to be nerd but Tobey was such a dork he totally took the character to a new level of lame.
2. Minus, Doctor Octavius and Venom, the villains sucked. Sandman? Really? And I was more afraid of the cartoon Green Goblin than the movie version. (Along with the story, Doc Oc was just that damn good, which is why #2 is easily the best of the series)
3. Spiderman 3 truly made a mockery of the entire trilogy. Yes, it was that bad, it actually hurt the others. Venom wasn't nearly as evil and honestly deserved his own movie. You can't have a villain that powerful and give him so little screen time. They had Spiderman/Peter fighting so many battles at once, (which he seemed to all conveniently beat at once) it was, for lack of a better word; a clusterfuck.
Well taking the Batman formula for how darkness and tragedy create a hero, the new installment seems to be shaping up pretty well.See for yourself:
THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN OPENS JULY 3, 2012
1. Tobey Maguire is not a good actor. Can you even name another movie he was in? Peter Parker is supposed to be nerd but Tobey was such a dork he totally took the character to a new level of lame.
2. Minus, Doctor Octavius and Venom, the villains sucked. Sandman? Really? And I was more afraid of the cartoon Green Goblin than the movie version. (Along with the story, Doc Oc was just that damn good, which is why #2 is easily the best of the series)
3. Spiderman 3 truly made a mockery of the entire trilogy. Yes, it was that bad, it actually hurt the others. Venom wasn't nearly as evil and honestly deserved his own movie. You can't have a villain that powerful and give him so little screen time. They had Spiderman/Peter fighting so many battles at once, (which he seemed to all conveniently beat at once) it was, for lack of a better word; a clusterfuck.
Well taking the Batman formula for how darkness and tragedy create a hero, the new installment seems to be shaping up pretty well.See for yourself:
THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN OPENS JULY 3, 2012
Dark Knight Rises
Here is a preview, of the soon to be end, of the greatest comic book movie trilogy of all time. Not much for a teaser trailer. Like they did for the Joker, a good shot of Bane probably wont be shown for a while.
Dark Knight Rises in theaters July 20, 2012
Dark Knight Rises in theaters July 20, 2012
The Movie God
Much like basketball, movies are a passion of mine. With so many great ones to talk about and ones we have yet to see and talk about I think it was only natural I created this blog. But this isn't only for me, its for anyone who loves movies like I do. I invite to talk and debate and offers reviews and I will post them, with my opinions added of course. Hopefully you'll enjoy it and what I have to say. Why wouldn't you respect The Movie Gods opinion?
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