And the winner is:
Donnie Darko
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
ONS Film Hall of Fame Inductee: July 2012
This month's nominees were Miracle, Airplane, Donnie Darko, and Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog.
And the winner is:
Donnie Darko
And the winner is:
Donnie Darko
ONS TV Hall of Fame Inductees: July 2012
I'm just gonna skip the intro because I'm lazy and get right too it:
This months nominees were Sherlock, Angel, That 70s Show, and Battlestar Galactica.
And the winner is:
Angel
This months nominees were Sherlock, Angel, That 70s Show, and Battlestar Galactica.
And the winner is:
Angel
Episode Reviewed: Warehouse 13: An Evil Within
Oh my God, they FINALLY brought Jimmy back from the dead! Don't let Clark find out though.
In A Nutshell:
Artifact: makes people in Philly see other people as monsters and attack them.
Meanwhile, Claudia goes rouge in her quest to bring Steve back, and Brent Spiner's character whose name escapes me confronts Artie, warning him of an evil that has been released.
The Good:
Artie and his conflicted terrifiedness, with his face or less screaming "I did the right thing but also the wrong thing and I gotta do the wrong thing to undo it! Aaahhhhhhhh!", was great, done perfectly by Saul Rubineck. Claudia's story line in this was great too. Allison Scaglioti could've done a better job with her performance, but all things considered, it was one of the episode's high points. We are seeing a lot more of where the overall story is going too, which is something I personally really enjoy, and seeing Mr. Data and Jimmy Olsen in one episode is pretty much a built in nerdgasm. Through in a bit of the show's excellent comedic banter, and you've got something good. On an unrelated note, Myka's curly hair is back, and tell me I'm not the only one that thinks it makes her more attractive somehow.
The Bad:
I'm not gonna say the artifact of the week aspect of the episode was bad, because it wasn't. It had good stuff: the monsters looked pretty cool, and Myka's tentacle-phobia was funny, but overall, this was the weakest part of the episode. It's one those times where the writers needed to kill 18 minutes of the episode AND give Pete and Myka something to do, and this was what they came up with. And yes, this wasn't as good as last week.
Final Rating: 86%
In A Nutshell:
Artifact: makes people in Philly see other people as monsters and attack them.
Meanwhile, Claudia goes rouge in her quest to bring Steve back, and Brent Spiner's character whose name escapes me confronts Artie, warning him of an evil that has been released.
The Good:
Artie and his conflicted terrifiedness, with his face or less screaming "I did the right thing but also the wrong thing and I gotta do the wrong thing to undo it! Aaahhhhhhhh!", was great, done perfectly by Saul Rubineck. Claudia's story line in this was great too. Allison Scaglioti could've done a better job with her performance, but all things considered, it was one of the episode's high points. We are seeing a lot more of where the overall story is going too, which is something I personally really enjoy, and seeing Mr. Data and Jimmy Olsen in one episode is pretty much a built in nerdgasm. Through in a bit of the show's excellent comedic banter, and you've got something good. On an unrelated note, Myka's curly hair is back, and tell me I'm not the only one that thinks it makes her more attractive somehow.
The Bad:
I'm not gonna say the artifact of the week aspect of the episode was bad, because it wasn't. It had good stuff: the monsters looked pretty cool, and Myka's tentacle-phobia was funny, but overall, this was the weakest part of the episode. It's one those times where the writers needed to kill 18 minutes of the episode AND give Pete and Myka something to do, and this was what they came up with. And yes, this wasn't as good as last week.
Final Rating: 86%
Sunday, July 29, 2012
LOST Season 6 Review
We all gonna die now! (inside joke)
In A Nutshell:
The hydrogen bomb that went off and it didn't work. Or did it? What it did was create and alternate universe in which Oceanic 815 never crashed and all the passengers lives are different in more ways then one. At the same time, back on the island, the castaways start grouping up as the the Man in Black's begins waging an all out war now that Jacob is out of the way.
The Good:
This is it. This was the final season. It's time to show us just what we've spent the last five years building up too. And it was great.
Flashbacks, flash-forwards, and time travel were all scrapped this season, which I had mixed feelings about; sure, flashbacks and forwards were stale, but I wasn't sick of time travel yet! They're replaced by flash-sideways, aka trips to the AU. At first, I didn't care about them, and found myself fast forwarding a lot. But then we get us a Desmond-centric episode (which is kind of automatically awesome), and we learn, via the appearances of Charlie the charismatic jackass and musician Dan Faraday (oh hell yeah!), that the flash-sideways trips DO matter, and that they're actually really cool. After that point, you not only care, but you love the flash-sideways.
Man in Black was a complex, surprisingly sympathetic villain (even though he was basically evil because he had mommy issues) who you love seeing on screen and was easily one of the highlights of the season, played awesomely by Terry O'Quinn.
I loved pretty much every episode after the season's halfway mark, and quite a few before it, with all of them boasting fantastic writing and all out awesomeness. Twists, tears, and guns, that's how I think of it. Answers arrive for plenty of questions, some of which you'd actually forgotten about, like the whispers.
And then you've got the series finale, the single most polarizing event in the history of television. I'm on the end that likes it, scratch that, loves it. The episode, titled simply The End, was a masterpiece the resolved things perfectly, and the final scene was one of most beautiful things ever put on screen. People who didn't like it clearly just don't get it (or they're a cretin). And when it finally ended, it left me with a pretty big feeling of "now what do I do?"
The Bad:
Like I said up there, at first, there is every possibility that you will not care about the flash-sideways. Some episodes were also much better then others (looking at you, What Kate Does), some things felt a bit tacked on. The season was also very polarizing, and you know what, I get that. LOST is a polarizing show period, I just happened to be one of the people who liked it as a whole rather then one specific aspect.
Final Rating: 94%
In A Nutshell:
The hydrogen bomb that went off and it didn't work. Or did it? What it did was create and alternate universe in which Oceanic 815 never crashed and all the passengers lives are different in more ways then one. At the same time, back on the island, the castaways start grouping up as the the Man in Black's begins waging an all out war now that Jacob is out of the way.
The Good:
This is it. This was the final season. It's time to show us just what we've spent the last five years building up too. And it was great.
Flashbacks, flash-forwards, and time travel were all scrapped this season, which I had mixed feelings about; sure, flashbacks and forwards were stale, but I wasn't sick of time travel yet! They're replaced by flash-sideways, aka trips to the AU. At first, I didn't care about them, and found myself fast forwarding a lot. But then we get us a Desmond-centric episode (which is kind of automatically awesome), and we learn, via the appearances of Charlie the charismatic jackass and musician Dan Faraday (oh hell yeah!), that the flash-sideways trips DO matter, and that they're actually really cool. After that point, you not only care, but you love the flash-sideways.
Man in Black was a complex, surprisingly sympathetic villain (even though he was basically evil because he had mommy issues) who you love seeing on screen and was easily one of the highlights of the season, played awesomely by Terry O'Quinn.
I loved pretty much every episode after the season's halfway mark, and quite a few before it, with all of them boasting fantastic writing and all out awesomeness. Twists, tears, and guns, that's how I think of it. Answers arrive for plenty of questions, some of which you'd actually forgotten about, like the whispers.
And then you've got the series finale, the single most polarizing event in the history of television. I'm on the end that likes it, scratch that, loves it. The episode, titled simply The End, was a masterpiece the resolved things perfectly, and the final scene was one of most beautiful things ever put on screen. People who didn't like it clearly just don't get it (or they're a cretin). And when it finally ended, it left me with a pretty big feeling of "now what do I do?"
The Bad:
Like I said up there, at first, there is every possibility that you will not care about the flash-sideways. Some episodes were also much better then others (looking at you, What Kate Does), some things felt a bit tacked on. The season was also very polarizing, and you know what, I get that. LOST is a polarizing show period, I just happened to be one of the people who liked it as a whole rather then one specific aspect.
Final Rating: 94%
Friday, July 27, 2012
Cloud Atlas Trailer Review
Okay, as you may or may not know, the last... ten years or so have been rough for the Wachowskis (they will be referred to simply as the Wachowskis on this website. I do not want to get into a debate with some troll). Speed Racer: Fail! Matrix sequels: Fail! But is redemption possible for these two wayward filmmakers? Based on this trailer, I'm gonna have to say yeah, it's totally possible.
Cloud Atlas is based on a book that I have not read but plan to in the near future, and is about, simply put, the human experience. Really, that is the easiest way to put it. It's a little bit like that show Touch, actually. It takes place across several time periods, and tells the story of a couple of people. It begins in the... the past, and shows a few people. And then we flash forward to a few other time periods, and we meet other characters who are apparently reincarnations of the people from the past. Confused yet? From there, it's a giant human experience message over several centuries about people who starting to recognize people from there past lives, with the cast playing multiple roles.
I'll start by saying that this movie is pretty tough to sum and sell, so, as a result, the trailer is just shy of six minutes. And I have to say, those are six very beautiful minutes. Even though it is really long, it is a great trailer, and I really like the human experience story line and the messages they're trying to convey. And, this being a Wachowski venture, we can tell that visually, this movie is already a masterpiece. From the stunning CGI of the future to the landscapes of the past, everything LOOKS amazing.
The movie comes out in October, and that is clearly so it doesn't have to compete with the Hobbit, which more people are going to see. Heck, more people will probably see Paranormal Activity 4, which is Cloud Atlas's only real competition. Why do I say that? Because this is clearly not a movie meant for mainstream audiences. If it's as good as it looks, it'll probably overtake the Tree of Life as the ultimate hipster movie, get nominated for Best Picture, and lose to the Hobbit. But no matter what happens, I am looking forward to this movie, and it just may just gain the Wachowski clan the redemption they've been after ever since the Matrix Reloaded.
Check out the trailer:
Cloud Atlas is based on a book that I have not read but plan to in the near future, and is about, simply put, the human experience. Really, that is the easiest way to put it. It's a little bit like that show Touch, actually. It takes place across several time periods, and tells the story of a couple of people. It begins in the... the past, and shows a few people. And then we flash forward to a few other time periods, and we meet other characters who are apparently reincarnations of the people from the past. Confused yet? From there, it's a giant human experience message over several centuries about people who starting to recognize people from there past lives, with the cast playing multiple roles.
I'll start by saying that this movie is pretty tough to sum and sell, so, as a result, the trailer is just shy of six minutes. And I have to say, those are six very beautiful minutes. Even though it is really long, it is a great trailer, and I really like the human experience story line and the messages they're trying to convey. And, this being a Wachowski venture, we can tell that visually, this movie is already a masterpiece. From the stunning CGI of the future to the landscapes of the past, everything LOOKS amazing.
The movie comes out in October, and that is clearly so it doesn't have to compete with the Hobbit, which more people are going to see. Heck, more people will probably see Paranormal Activity 4, which is Cloud Atlas's only real competition. Why do I say that? Because this is clearly not a movie meant for mainstream audiences. If it's as good as it looks, it'll probably overtake the Tree of Life as the ultimate hipster movie, get nominated for Best Picture, and lose to the Hobbit. But no matter what happens, I am looking forward to this movie, and it just may just gain the Wachowski clan the redemption they've been after ever since the Matrix Reloaded.
Check out the trailer:
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The Sealvengers
I found this online a few days ago, and I have to share it with you guys:
The Avengers... as seals!
The Avengers... as seals!
LOST Season 5 Review
Damon Lindelof: "I am going to split my own fan base down the middle! But how?"
Carlton Cuse: "Time travel?"
Damon Lindelof: "Perfect!"
In A Nutshell:
As the oceanic six must decide whether or not to return to the island, and if so, how they're going to do it, the people still on the island find themselves jumping to different points in time, which, you know, can make things pretty confusing.
The Good:
The time jumping that comprised the first few episodes was downright awesome. Seriously, watching them go to different points, with an exasperated Faraday trying to explain what's happening to us common folk, while confusing, was just cool. It's also really interesting when they stop jumping and are stuck in a certain point, contemplating what to do, especially because that's when the time paradox questions start getting asked (it's also when Hurley attempts to write the script for Empire Strikes Back, with a few improvements, to save George Lucas the trouble, if that gives you any hint as to where they land). I also really liked Sawyer's role amid all the time travel in season 5, as he starts to permanently adopt the antihero persona that he began to take up in season 4. When I think about it, Sawyer probably got the most character development this season. Other great aspects of this season were all things Faraday (who finally got an episode centered around him), and all things Locke and Ben, whose roles change a bit this season as we got the fantastic episode "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham". We got a Miles-centric episode too, which was pretty cool. The time travel also lets us see how all of these characters are connected to the island, which I just loved.
The Bad:
The story of the Oceanic Six returning to island was the least compelling part of the season. It felt dragged out, and honestly, we all just wanted them to get back to the island already, so the fact that it took so long for them to do that is bit frustrating. The season was also a bit light on character growth when compared to the previous ones. Granted, I don't think we're really allowed to gripe about something like that when the show dedicated the entire first season and a lot of second to character growth. My biggest complaint though, was the sinful under-use of Desmond, who, like I've said before, is my favorite character. He only had one episode centered around him, and while it was good, it wasn't even in the same league as the Constant. After that episode he basically just has cameos every so often.
Final Rating: 98%
Carlton Cuse: "Time travel?"
Damon Lindelof: "Perfect!"
In A Nutshell:
As the oceanic six must decide whether or not to return to the island, and if so, how they're going to do it, the people still on the island find themselves jumping to different points in time, which, you know, can make things pretty confusing.
The Good:
The time jumping that comprised the first few episodes was downright awesome. Seriously, watching them go to different points, with an exasperated Faraday trying to explain what's happening to us common folk, while confusing, was just cool. It's also really interesting when they stop jumping and are stuck in a certain point, contemplating what to do, especially because that's when the time paradox questions start getting asked (it's also when Hurley attempts to write the script for Empire Strikes Back, with a few improvements, to save George Lucas the trouble, if that gives you any hint as to where they land). I also really liked Sawyer's role amid all the time travel in season 5, as he starts to permanently adopt the antihero persona that he began to take up in season 4. When I think about it, Sawyer probably got the most character development this season. Other great aspects of this season were all things Faraday (who finally got an episode centered around him), and all things Locke and Ben, whose roles change a bit this season as we got the fantastic episode "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham". We got a Miles-centric episode too, which was pretty cool. The time travel also lets us see how all of these characters are connected to the island, which I just loved.
The Bad:
The story of the Oceanic Six returning to island was the least compelling part of the season. It felt dragged out, and honestly, we all just wanted them to get back to the island already, so the fact that it took so long for them to do that is bit frustrating. The season was also a bit light on character growth when compared to the previous ones. Granted, I don't think we're really allowed to gripe about something like that when the show dedicated the entire first season and a lot of second to character growth. My biggest complaint though, was the sinful under-use of Desmond, who, like I've said before, is my favorite character. He only had one episode centered around him, and while it was good, it wasn't even in the same league as the Constant. After that episode he basically just has cameos every so often.
Final Rating: 98%
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Episode Reviewed: Warehouse 13: A New Hope
I was so excited for this episode that I actually came up with two opening lines:
1. Star Wars reference for a title! Woo!
2. Yes, someone is STILL dead.
In A Nutshell:
Alright, so the fourth season premier of the only good on the SyFy channel for the last three years (even if it is kind of giant Prius ad) picks up right after the end of the third season, with the Warehouse destroyed (but the Prius parked outside is in one piece, thank God) and HG, Steve, and Mrs. Frederick all dead. But, the good news is that MacPhearson's watch (you remember that thing, right?), tells Artie that there is an artifact they can use to turn back time to before the Warehouse was blown up, but they've only got 24 hours to do it before the bad artifact juju released by the explosion rips the world apart. And Brent Spiner and his little cult/army of knights is going to do anything to stop them.
The Good:
I've been waiting for this episode since the third season ended last October, and this absolutely worth the wait. The episode goes at a really fast, enjoyable pace that you're all gonna love. The begining is honestly pretty solemn, which is understandable given what's just happened, but after the team realizes their situation, they put their despair and pissed off-ness behind them to save the day. Pretty much everything we've all come to love about the show is here in this episode: Pete and Myka kicking ass, snappy and often hilarious dialogue/banter (seriously, there were a lot of great jokes in this episode), the whole nine yards, along with the darker, more serious tones and implications season three's finale gave us. Plus, we find a little something out about the football that's every long time fan is gonna get a kick out of. This whole episode was really just for long time fans. I'm so proud of this show, it's officially had an episode that would make no sense to someone who's never seen it.
Then the episode ends, and the implication that is most likely going to be set up for this season's story arc/main villain, made everyone watching collectively piss their pants. I don't want to spoil it, but I can pretty much guarantee that this season's villain will be better then Sykes. The problem with Sykes as a villain was that he was kind of generic, and most of the team didn't really have any personal connection with him. What made MacPhearson and HG great was that certain team members were, at one point, friends with these guys. With Sykes, the closest the team came to a connection was a three minute conversation Pete's mom had with him when he was ten. I'm not saying he was a bad villain, I'm just saying he wasn't AS good as his predecessors. But the team is VERY connected to this season's big bad. If you've seen the episode, you know what I'm talking about, and it's probably making you just as excited for this season as I am.
The Bad:
A couple things that happened in the last ten minutes or so came across as a tad plot convenient. Other then that, my only problem with the episode was that it was only 45 minutes long. A two hour premier would've been great.
Final Rating: 95%
So, have you seen the season premier of Warehouse 13, and if so, what'd you think of it? Comment below, let me know!
1. Star Wars reference for a title! Woo!
2. Yes, someone is STILL dead.
In A Nutshell:
Alright, so the fourth season premier of the only good on the SyFy channel for the last three years (even if it is kind of giant Prius ad) picks up right after the end of the third season, with the Warehouse destroyed (but the Prius parked outside is in one piece, thank God) and HG, Steve, and Mrs. Frederick all dead. But, the good news is that MacPhearson's watch (you remember that thing, right?), tells Artie that there is an artifact they can use to turn back time to before the Warehouse was blown up, but they've only got 24 hours to do it before the bad artifact juju released by the explosion rips the world apart. And Brent Spiner and his little cult/army of knights is going to do anything to stop them.
The Good:
I've been waiting for this episode since the third season ended last October, and this absolutely worth the wait. The episode goes at a really fast, enjoyable pace that you're all gonna love. The begining is honestly pretty solemn, which is understandable given what's just happened, but after the team realizes their situation, they put their despair and pissed off-ness behind them to save the day. Pretty much everything we've all come to love about the show is here in this episode: Pete and Myka kicking ass, snappy and often hilarious dialogue/banter (seriously, there were a lot of great jokes in this episode), the whole nine yards, along with the darker, more serious tones and implications season three's finale gave us. Plus, we find a little something out about the football that's every long time fan is gonna get a kick out of. This whole episode was really just for long time fans. I'm so proud of this show, it's officially had an episode that would make no sense to someone who's never seen it.
Then the episode ends, and the implication that is most likely going to be set up for this season's story arc/main villain, made everyone watching collectively piss their pants. I don't want to spoil it, but I can pretty much guarantee that this season's villain will be better then Sykes. The problem with Sykes as a villain was that he was kind of generic, and most of the team didn't really have any personal connection with him. What made MacPhearson and HG great was that certain team members were, at one point, friends with these guys. With Sykes, the closest the team came to a connection was a three minute conversation Pete's mom had with him when he was ten. I'm not saying he was a bad villain, I'm just saying he wasn't AS good as his predecessors. But the team is VERY connected to this season's big bad. If you've seen the episode, you know what I'm talking about, and it's probably making you just as excited for this season as I am.
The Bad:
A couple things that happened in the last ten minutes or so came across as a tad plot convenient. Other then that, my only problem with the episode was that it was only 45 minutes long. A two hour premier would've been great.
Final Rating: 95%
So, have you seen the season premier of Warehouse 13, and if so, what'd you think of it? Comment below, let me know!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Episode Reviewed: Falling Skies: Molon Lobe
Yeah... I didn't really get the title either...
In A Nutshell:
Right after the last episode, with Karen and Ben taking off together, Karen tricks Ben into meeting the Overlords so they can gain information on the Skitter rebellion. But wouldn't you know it, the 2nd Mass was waiting to ambush them, recovering Ben and taking Mr. Fishhead captive in the process. Karen, who apparently is the most devoted employee of all time, wants her boss back, and a standoff between the aliens and the 2nd Mass is the result.
The Good:
So far, this is easily the best episode of the season. Rather then going for the latest in a long line of "let's go rescue Ben" episodes, the writers gave us an intense, action heavy game-changer. I've been complaining lately that the show doesn't have enough action, well this week made up for that and then some, with the first half hour or so dedicated to explosive gun-fights and battles, which was obviously a good thing. They also offed two minor characters, one of which happened in a way that's gonna make you feel it, even though you barely know that character, the other of which happened in one of the most disturbing ways imaginable, introducing a new type of alien in the process. The Tom-VS-Fishhead interrogation also proved to be pretty fantastic, and the result was Tom... I can't say it because then I'd ruin for those of you who haven't watched it yet, but I will say he does some badassery that'll make even you Tom-haters out there go "hell yeah!". Matt, amazingly enough, was even given something to do, and it was cool to see him as a hero. I don't know how well the child-soldier thing is gonna go over with some people, but for me, at the moment, it works. All of this is happening with an ever-Creeptastic Karen and even some good character moments for Tom and Ben, which leads to a solid ending.
The Bad:
So, last knight I watched this when it was on for the first time... ever, I think, and I've gotta say, people are right about the absurd amount of commercials attached to the show. But that's beside the point. The only real beef I had with this week's outing was that while Pope is back, but he barely had anything to do.
Final Rating: 92%
In A Nutshell:
Right after the last episode, with Karen and Ben taking off together, Karen tricks Ben into meeting the Overlords so they can gain information on the Skitter rebellion. But wouldn't you know it, the 2nd Mass was waiting to ambush them, recovering Ben and taking Mr. Fishhead captive in the process. Karen, who apparently is the most devoted employee of all time, wants her boss back, and a standoff between the aliens and the 2nd Mass is the result.
The Good:
So far, this is easily the best episode of the season. Rather then going for the latest in a long line of "let's go rescue Ben" episodes, the writers gave us an intense, action heavy game-changer. I've been complaining lately that the show doesn't have enough action, well this week made up for that and then some, with the first half hour or so dedicated to explosive gun-fights and battles, which was obviously a good thing. They also offed two minor characters, one of which happened in a way that's gonna make you feel it, even though you barely know that character, the other of which happened in one of the most disturbing ways imaginable, introducing a new type of alien in the process. The Tom-VS-Fishhead interrogation also proved to be pretty fantastic, and the result was Tom... I can't say it because then I'd ruin for those of you who haven't watched it yet, but I will say he does some badassery that'll make even you Tom-haters out there go "hell yeah!". Matt, amazingly enough, was even given something to do, and it was cool to see him as a hero. I don't know how well the child-soldier thing is gonna go over with some people, but for me, at the moment, it works. All of this is happening with an ever-Creeptastic Karen and even some good character moments for Tom and Ben, which leads to a solid ending.
The Bad:
So, last knight I watched this when it was on for the first time... ever, I think, and I've gotta say, people are right about the absurd amount of commercials attached to the show. But that's beside the point. The only real beef I had with this week's outing was that while Pope is back, but he barely had anything to do.
Final Rating: 92%
Sunday, July 22, 2012
The Top 10 Superhero Movies
In honor of the Dark Knight Rises, it is time for my own personal list of the best superhero flicks ever put on screen as of July 22, 2012. Let's get started.
10. The Amazing Spider-Man
What was, in my opinion, a better origin story for our favorite web-head makes this list's number 10 spot. With a likable, relatable, and thoroughly snarky Peter Parker (played by... Eduardo from the Social Network?!) who actually had good chemistry with his love interest Emma Stone, amazing visuals, some great action, and spot-on performances by a cast of A-listers, it's no wonder that this movie is making us all feel good about Spidey once again, and has at least one fan boy waiting for a sequel. I wanted to put this higher up on this list, and the only reason I didn't was because the film's villain, the Lizard, was downgraded to a smart version of that giant worm-thing from the X-Files.
Favorite scene: "You've found my weakness: it's small knives!"
9. Superman: The Movie
Taking 9th place is the story of a boy. His name is Kal-El. He shall be called Clark Kent. But to the world, he will be known as Superman. That's right, it's the superhero movie that began all other superhero movies, with it's fantastic, albeit simplistic, story of the savior of the modern world, featuring one of the best heroic performances of all time by way of Christopher Reeve. Let's face it, this is just a great movie period. 'Nough said.
Favorite scene: Superman ANGRYYYYY!!!!!!!!
8. Spider-Man 2
If Raimi got anything right with his movies, it was this. One of the only genre movies to show just how much being a superhero really sucks gives us a Peter Parker trying to balance his responsibitlities with incredibly mundane tasks like keeping his grades up, the stress of which is so great that it nearly prevents him from dealing with the arrival of Dr. Octupus, one of the best, most complex villains ever put on screen, played by Alfred Monlina in all his glory. Great action, great character moments, and a deleted scene with JJ Jameson in the spiderman suit. What more can you ask for?
Favorite scene: I'm gonna have to go with the bank fight between the Webhead and Doc Oc.
7. X2: X Men United
As Wolverine returns to Xavier's school, the racist (expletive removed) Col. Stryker threatens to end all mutants by kidnapping proffessor X. To stop him, the X Men must do the unthinkable: team up with Magneto. Bryan Singer brought us this epic, action-packed thrill-ride, filled to the brim with great acting, fantastically written villains, x-traodinary (oh God, did I really just make that joke) special effects, and the hilarious "mutants as gay people" metaphor ("have you tried... not being a mutant?). Not to mention the addition of Night Crawler, who along with Gambit, is one of my favorite unsung X-Men, and a bittersweet, but great none the less, ending that lead into an iffy 3rd movie.
Favorite scene: The US Army invades Xavier's school, making Wolverine do what Wolverine does.
6. Iron Man
There was a lot riding on Iron Man when it came out; the movie not only had to make people buy into it's fairly ludicrous premise, but also get the shared Marvel movie universe started for the Avengers. It did both of these things and them some. Tony Stark is a super genius irresponsible billionaire who goes missing in the middle east. He comes back a badass with a suit of armor and is now determined to save the people he screwed over. But what makes this movie great isn't the special effects or epic action scenes; it's Robert Downey Jr. in the role he was to born to play, Tony Stark ( To his robot: "If you spray me one more time and I'm not on fire, I will donate you to a community college!")
Favorite scene: When he dodges a missle and then blows up the tank that just shot at him.
5. Batman Begins
Probably the best origin story movie of all time takes the number 5 spot. After seven years in self-imposed exile, Bruce Wayne has returned to his native Gotham (which, for reference, makes Detroit look like a nice place to live) as a ninja, dons a cape and some body armor, and fights crime as the Batman. Christopher Nolan ressurected the Batman franchise with this movie and made the unrealistic as gritty and realistic as you possibly imagine, complete with some of the best actors alive today and all around badassery.
Favorite scene: Thug: "WHERE ARE YOU!?" Batman: "Here."
4. X Men: First Class
It's the prequel X-Men deserves, AND the one it needs. If you'll pardon the Batman reference, you know what I mean. The slick, intelligent, stylish story of how the X-Men began and how Proffessor X and Magneto (with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender filling in well for Jean Luc Picard and Gandalf) became mortal frenemies. The new directing style and faster pace, along with all the great action and special effects we've come to expect from the franchise and some fantastic performances, make this hands down the best entry in the entire franchise. Plus Kevin Bacon, always awesome.
Favorite scene: Magneto shows Shaw that he can, in fact, move the coin.
3. The Dark Knight Rises
Well of course this makes the list! As if I wasn't going to put one of the most epic conclusion to a franchise ever on here. After 8 years MIA, Batman must put the cape back one to stop Bane from burning Gotham to the ground. But it won't be that simple; not only does this boast Christian Bale's best turn as Bruce Wayne/Batman to date, but it also has one the most epic climax's ever put on screen, plus one of my favorite ambiguous endings to date.
Favorite scene: Bruce literally drags himself out of the pit to save Gotham.
2. The Avengers
After four years, Marvel had established a shared movie universe, and the Avengers was a result. Joss Whedon, who screenwrote and directed the movie, injected his own unique brand of awesome by way of witty dialogue and amazing action into this tag-team tale of six superheroes, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, who have to team up to stop Loki and his alien invasion. The first two hours are an awesome build up of the Avengers meeting and butting heads in an often hilarious way, all leading up to an absurdly awesome, climactic battle. Joss is boss. Only downside is we're probably gonna have to wait another four years for the Avengers 2.
Favorite scene: the final battle of course!
1. The Dark Knight
Do I REALLY need to explain it?
Favorite scene: "How 'bout a magic trick?"
Honorable mentions for Superman 2, Spiderman, X-Men, and Thor.
So, what's your favorite superhero movie? Comment below, let me know!
10. The Amazing Spider-Man
What was, in my opinion, a better origin story for our favorite web-head makes this list's number 10 spot. With a likable, relatable, and thoroughly snarky Peter Parker (played by... Eduardo from the Social Network?!) who actually had good chemistry with his love interest Emma Stone, amazing visuals, some great action, and spot-on performances by a cast of A-listers, it's no wonder that this movie is making us all feel good about Spidey once again, and has at least one fan boy waiting for a sequel. I wanted to put this higher up on this list, and the only reason I didn't was because the film's villain, the Lizard, was downgraded to a smart version of that giant worm-thing from the X-Files.
Favorite scene: "You've found my weakness: it's small knives!"
9. Superman: The Movie
Taking 9th place is the story of a boy. His name is Kal-El. He shall be called Clark Kent. But to the world, he will be known as Superman. That's right, it's the superhero movie that began all other superhero movies, with it's fantastic, albeit simplistic, story of the savior of the modern world, featuring one of the best heroic performances of all time by way of Christopher Reeve. Let's face it, this is just a great movie period. 'Nough said.
Favorite scene: Superman ANGRYYYYY!!!!!!!!
8. Spider-Man 2
If Raimi got anything right with his movies, it was this. One of the only genre movies to show just how much being a superhero really sucks gives us a Peter Parker trying to balance his responsibitlities with incredibly mundane tasks like keeping his grades up, the stress of which is so great that it nearly prevents him from dealing with the arrival of Dr. Octupus, one of the best, most complex villains ever put on screen, played by Alfred Monlina in all his glory. Great action, great character moments, and a deleted scene with JJ Jameson in the spiderman suit. What more can you ask for?
Favorite scene: I'm gonna have to go with the bank fight between the Webhead and Doc Oc.
7. X2: X Men United
As Wolverine returns to Xavier's school, the racist (expletive removed) Col. Stryker threatens to end all mutants by kidnapping proffessor X. To stop him, the X Men must do the unthinkable: team up with Magneto. Bryan Singer brought us this epic, action-packed thrill-ride, filled to the brim with great acting, fantastically written villains, x-traodinary (oh God, did I really just make that joke) special effects, and the hilarious "mutants as gay people" metaphor ("have you tried... not being a mutant?). Not to mention the addition of Night Crawler, who along with Gambit, is one of my favorite unsung X-Men, and a bittersweet, but great none the less, ending that lead into an iffy 3rd movie.
Favorite scene: The US Army invades Xavier's school, making Wolverine do what Wolverine does.
6. Iron Man
There was a lot riding on Iron Man when it came out; the movie not only had to make people buy into it's fairly ludicrous premise, but also get the shared Marvel movie universe started for the Avengers. It did both of these things and them some. Tony Stark is a super genius irresponsible billionaire who goes missing in the middle east. He comes back a badass with a suit of armor and is now determined to save the people he screwed over. But what makes this movie great isn't the special effects or epic action scenes; it's Robert Downey Jr. in the role he was to born to play, Tony Stark ( To his robot: "If you spray me one more time and I'm not on fire, I will donate you to a community college!")
Favorite scene: When he dodges a missle and then blows up the tank that just shot at him.
5. Batman Begins
Probably the best origin story movie of all time takes the number 5 spot. After seven years in self-imposed exile, Bruce Wayne has returned to his native Gotham (which, for reference, makes Detroit look like a nice place to live) as a ninja, dons a cape and some body armor, and fights crime as the Batman. Christopher Nolan ressurected the Batman franchise with this movie and made the unrealistic as gritty and realistic as you possibly imagine, complete with some of the best actors alive today and all around badassery.
Favorite scene: Thug: "WHERE ARE YOU!?" Batman: "Here."
4. X Men: First Class
It's the prequel X-Men deserves, AND the one it needs. If you'll pardon the Batman reference, you know what I mean. The slick, intelligent, stylish story of how the X-Men began and how Proffessor X and Magneto (with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender filling in well for Jean Luc Picard and Gandalf) became mortal frenemies. The new directing style and faster pace, along with all the great action and special effects we've come to expect from the franchise and some fantastic performances, make this hands down the best entry in the entire franchise. Plus Kevin Bacon, always awesome.
Favorite scene: Magneto shows Shaw that he can, in fact, move the coin.
3. The Dark Knight Rises
Well of course this makes the list! As if I wasn't going to put one of the most epic conclusion to a franchise ever on here. After 8 years MIA, Batman must put the cape back one to stop Bane from burning Gotham to the ground. But it won't be that simple; not only does this boast Christian Bale's best turn as Bruce Wayne/Batman to date, but it also has one the most epic climax's ever put on screen, plus one of my favorite ambiguous endings to date.
Favorite scene: Bruce literally drags himself out of the pit to save Gotham.
2. The Avengers
After four years, Marvel had established a shared movie universe, and the Avengers was a result. Joss Whedon, who screenwrote and directed the movie, injected his own unique brand of awesome by way of witty dialogue and amazing action into this tag-team tale of six superheroes, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, who have to team up to stop Loki and his alien invasion. The first two hours are an awesome build up of the Avengers meeting and butting heads in an often hilarious way, all leading up to an absurdly awesome, climactic battle. Joss is boss. Only downside is we're probably gonna have to wait another four years for the Avengers 2.
Favorite scene: the final battle of course!
Do I REALLY need to explain it?
Favorite scene: "How 'bout a magic trick?"
Honorable mentions for Superman 2, Spiderman, X-Men, and Thor.
So, what's your favorite superhero movie? Comment below, let me know!
Man of Steel Teaser Trailers
Now that the Dark Knight saga, and with it, 2012's superhero films, have come to a close, many wonder what the next big comic book title will be. Marvel's Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World are in the works and set to come out next year, with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy to follow in 2014. Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man's writers are already hard at work on a sequel, and FOX has sequels for Wolverine and X Men: First Class, as well as a Josh "Chronicle" Trank helmed Fantastic Four reboot (Godspeed Mr. Trank), in development. I'm excited for all of those movies (some more then others), but the nearest one I'm really anticipating is Man of Steel.
Alright, with the Dark Knight Rises came something else that was very awesome: not one, but two teaser trailers for next year's superman flick, Man of Steel. It's basically the same trailer twice, but each one has a different voice over; one is by Kevin Costner, who's playing Clark's earth father Pa Kent, and the other by Russel Crowe, who plays Jor-El. The images in the trailers are both basically showing that in this movie, Clark Kent is actually kind of damaged in the beginning, which is something very new. I personally think that's a good direction to take it in, because I just feel like that it would be pretty awesome to watch this damaged guy with amazing abilities find his feet and become our savior. Done well, that would be epic. The voice overs are both conveying the idea that Clark needs to decide what kind of man he wants to be, and when he does, the world will be in good shape. I personally feel that the Russel Crowe voice over is somehow more epic, but I like both of them. And of course, the final shot of film is, simply put, fantastic. They're making me excited for this movie.
Take a look at both of them right here:
Alright, with the Dark Knight Rises came something else that was very awesome: not one, but two teaser trailers for next year's superman flick, Man of Steel. It's basically the same trailer twice, but each one has a different voice over; one is by Kevin Costner, who's playing Clark's earth father Pa Kent, and the other by Russel Crowe, who plays Jor-El. The images in the trailers are both basically showing that in this movie, Clark Kent is actually kind of damaged in the beginning, which is something very new. I personally think that's a good direction to take it in, because I just feel like that it would be pretty awesome to watch this damaged guy with amazing abilities find his feet and become our savior. Done well, that would be epic. The voice overs are both conveying the idea that Clark needs to decide what kind of man he wants to be, and when he does, the world will be in good shape. I personally feel that the Russel Crowe voice over is somehow more epic, but I like both of them. And of course, the final shot of film is, simply put, fantastic. They're making me excited for this movie.
Take a look at both of them right here:
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Movie Reviewed: The Dark Knight Rises
So I watched a trailer for the Dark Knight Rises on youtube a few months ago, and someone said "Bane may be cool, but can he do the pencil trick?" The response was "No, but he can do the break-your-back trick."
In A Nutshell:
Everything's good in Gotham. But, what a buzzkill, it's based on a lie. But hey, everyone except Gordon and Bruce "Howard Hughes without the 8 inch nails" Wayne, feels good. Until Bane, whose pretty much Batman's version of Doomsday, comes to town with the intention of destroying everything (even bigger buzzkill). So, Bruce must put the cape back on and stop him, but it won't be easy...
The Good:
So, the movie does a great job of showing just how much a mess Bruce Wayne has become, especially because he just expects to put the hockey pads back on and resume being a badass. And then when you see him literally pull himself from the pits to truly become Batman again and save the day, it was EPIC! That was one of my favorite parts of the whole movie, just because, once again, it is freaking epic.
They also do a great job of making what Bane is doing relevant too, which I really liked. Bane was a cool villain in general; he was badass, he was menacing, pretty much whenever he talks you get the sense that stuff is really going down. I can't say that he's the best Bane because I've never seen Batman and Robin (nor do I intend too...), but he was truly a great Bane. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman was also awesome. I actually don't think they ever call her Catwoman, but she is Catwoman, she's a badass, she's fun to watch, and Hathaway does a great job. There was, obviously, a twist towards the end that actually incorporates another villain into the story, and I won't spoil it, but it was great.
The entire movie is leading up to one of the most epic final battles ever. The movie is kind of slowly building up intensity over the first couple of acts, to the point where when the battle starts, you are so engrossed that you enjoy it even more. You know that seen in the trailer with all the cops running at Bane's army? That's just how it starts; the fight is so epic that I honestly can't even begin to describe it. And the ending was not only awesome on every level, but it also was really fitting for the franchise (I also called part of the ending a few months back. Not all of it, but one aspect of it. And yes, I actually did in my review of the 3rd Dark Knight Rises trailer). The bottom line is that this movie is an amazing ending to one the best movie trilogies ever.
The Bad:
I have only two complaints: One is that Bane just isn't Joker, and Tom Hardy isn't Heath Ledger. I know that no movie is ever even mildly likely to replicate the Ledger Joker , but still. Another thing is that the movie actually takes a while to get going. It starts off kind of slow, but then after like 45 minutes, stuff starts going down and you're in for a ride.
Final Rating: 97%
So, what's you're favorite Batman move? Comment below, let me know!
And as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
In A Nutshell:
Everything's good in Gotham. But, what a buzzkill, it's based on a lie. But hey, everyone except Gordon and Bruce "Howard Hughes without the 8 inch nails" Wayne, feels good. Until Bane, whose pretty much Batman's version of Doomsday, comes to town with the intention of destroying everything (even bigger buzzkill). So, Bruce must put the cape back on and stop him, but it won't be easy...
The Good:
So, the movie does a great job of showing just how much a mess Bruce Wayne has become, especially because he just expects to put the hockey pads back on and resume being a badass. And then when you see him literally pull himself from the pits to truly become Batman again and save the day, it was EPIC! That was one of my favorite parts of the whole movie, just because, once again, it is freaking epic.
They also do a great job of making what Bane is doing relevant too, which I really liked. Bane was a cool villain in general; he was badass, he was menacing, pretty much whenever he talks you get the sense that stuff is really going down. I can't say that he's the best Bane because I've never seen Batman and Robin (nor do I intend too...), but he was truly a great Bane. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman was also awesome. I actually don't think they ever call her Catwoman, but she is Catwoman, she's a badass, she's fun to watch, and Hathaway does a great job. There was, obviously, a twist towards the end that actually incorporates another villain into the story, and I won't spoil it, but it was great.
The entire movie is leading up to one of the most epic final battles ever. The movie is kind of slowly building up intensity over the first couple of acts, to the point where when the battle starts, you are so engrossed that you enjoy it even more. You know that seen in the trailer with all the cops running at Bane's army? That's just how it starts; the fight is so epic that I honestly can't even begin to describe it. And the ending was not only awesome on every level, but it also was really fitting for the franchise (I also called part of the ending a few months back. Not all of it, but one aspect of it. And yes, I actually did in my review of the 3rd Dark Knight Rises trailer). The bottom line is that this movie is an amazing ending to one the best movie trilogies ever.
The Bad:
I have only two complaints: One is that Bane just isn't Joker, and Tom Hardy isn't Heath Ledger. I know that no movie is ever even mildly likely to replicate the Ledger Joker , but still. Another thing is that the movie actually takes a while to get going. It starts off kind of slow, but then after like 45 minutes, stuff starts going down and you're in for a ride.
Final Rating: 97%
So, what's you're favorite Batman move? Comment below, let me know!
And as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
LOST Season 4 Review
Wait, what is happening right now?
In A Nutshell:
Rescue has arrived! Or has it? Season 4 centers around the freighter off the coast of the island, it's intentions, the interactions between it's crew and the castaways, and what to do about it. And the Flash-Forwards introduced in the season 3 finale are further used to show who made it off the island, how their lives are kind of going to hell, and why they need to get back.
The Good:
This season only had 14 episodes, and believe it or not, that was a good thing. The shortened number of episodes let the pace of the show speed up a lot, which was absolutely a good thing. The storyline of the freighter was pretty awesome too, lending itself to some great twists, along with awesome new characters in Lapidus, Miles, and of course, Daniel Faraday, who would've not doubt stolen the show had he simply been given more screen time.
Were it not for the freighter, we also wouldn't have gotten an episode titled The Constant, which is widely considered one of the best episodes of the entire series. The constant was for Lost what The Body was for Buffy, Absolute Justice was for Smallville, 33 was for BSG, and Blink was for Doctor Who: a gigantic pile of awesome the proves what the show is capable and shakes things up a lot. Why? Because the Constant not only featured Desmond's finest hour (in season 4, Desmond officially became my favorite character. He wasn't in season 3 because Mr. Eko was still around then), but it also brings the concept of time travel to the table, and was just fantastically written.
The flash-forwards also proved to be awesome too. Half the fun of it was trying to figure out how everything fits together and when a flash-forward takes place relative to the others (okay, so this one is after that before that, so this is what happened between that and that). The other half was they kept you guessing; they provide twists, advance the overall story, and they give you that feeling of "okay, what is going on right now?". Naturally, the flash-forwards also make the season end in one amazing cliffhanger.
And then you've got Locke and Linus, two characters who prove to be awesome on every level. The actors have great chemistry, and when they're together, you just get that feeling that (expletive removed) is going down/hitting the fan.
The Bad:
You know what, I've got nothing.
Final Rating: 100%
In A Nutshell:
Rescue has arrived! Or has it? Season 4 centers around the freighter off the coast of the island, it's intentions, the interactions between it's crew and the castaways, and what to do about it. And the Flash-Forwards introduced in the season 3 finale are further used to show who made it off the island, how their lives are kind of going to hell, and why they need to get back.
The Good:
This season only had 14 episodes, and believe it or not, that was a good thing. The shortened number of episodes let the pace of the show speed up a lot, which was absolutely a good thing. The storyline of the freighter was pretty awesome too, lending itself to some great twists, along with awesome new characters in Lapidus, Miles, and of course, Daniel Faraday, who would've not doubt stolen the show had he simply been given more screen time.
Were it not for the freighter, we also wouldn't have gotten an episode titled The Constant, which is widely considered one of the best episodes of the entire series. The constant was for Lost what The Body was for Buffy, Absolute Justice was for Smallville, 33 was for BSG, and Blink was for Doctor Who: a gigantic pile of awesome the proves what the show is capable and shakes things up a lot. Why? Because the Constant not only featured Desmond's finest hour (in season 4, Desmond officially became my favorite character. He wasn't in season 3 because Mr. Eko was still around then), but it also brings the concept of time travel to the table, and was just fantastically written.
The flash-forwards also proved to be awesome too. Half the fun of it was trying to figure out how everything fits together and when a flash-forward takes place relative to the others (okay, so this one is after that before that, so this is what happened between that and that). The other half was they kept you guessing; they provide twists, advance the overall story, and they give you that feeling of "okay, what is going on right now?". Naturally, the flash-forwards also make the season end in one amazing cliffhanger.
And then you've got Locke and Linus, two characters who prove to be awesome on every level. The actors have great chemistry, and when they're together, you just get that feeling that (expletive removed) is going down/hitting the fan.
The Bad:
You know what, I've got nothing.
Final Rating: 100%
Friday, July 20, 2012
Rant: Trilogies
Okay, I know I said that I'd have my Dark Knight Rises review out by tomorrow, but, in light of recent events, I'm gonna have to put off seeing it for a few more days, and I can't really review it before I see it, so you guys will have to wait a few days. I know that what I'm doing is wicked unprofessional, but it's just how it is.
Anyway, since TDKR is the conclusion of a trilogy, I've decided now would be a good time for trilogy-related rant. I know I haven't done a rant in about two months, but I'm doing one now, so yeah.
So, for those of you who live under a rock, a trilogy is a series, often a series of movies, comprised of three stories all connected to each other.
Trilogies are tough to pull off. The way it seems to go a lot is the first two are awesome, and then one is just a let down, like with Spiderman 3, or X Men: the Last Stand or, my personal least favorite, Karate Kid Part 3, the entry in the series that was painful half the time, and just boring the other half. Although, to be fair, even that one wasn't as bad as the spinoff with Hilary Swank (not being sexist, it was just a lousy movie). Seriously, sometimes the third movie will be so bad that it pretty much ruins the first two, just as KKP3 did by making Daniel act like a complete jerk to Mr. Mayogi (probably spelled that wrong) who basically went out of his way to make sure his life didn't suck.
Heck, sometimes, you wonder why they made sequels to begin with, like with Back to the Future. Back to the Future IS my favorite movie of all time, just so you guys have a point of reference for this. I didn't actually hate either of the sequels, but I can't help but feel like they didn't do the first one justice/fell kind of flat. And then there's the ultimate example of a trilogy that should've stopped after the first movie; that's right, I'm talking about the Matrix. The Matrix (the first one, I mean), kick all kinds of ass, and let's face it, we all love it. So when people found out that a sequel was in the works, the nerd community collectively squealed. And then we saw the Matrix Reloaded and collectively said "Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!" The often bizarre tone, absurdity, slow moments, general stupidity, elements that were rehashed from the first one, and the fact that parts just didn't make sense made it suck to no end (and the fact that we all realized that Keanu Reeves is kind of a lousy actor). And then all of those factors were multiplied by 100 for the craptastic conclusion that was the Matrix Revolutions (don't even get me started).
Don't get me wrong, sometimes a trilogy manages to be good all the way through. The original Star Wars trilogy, for instance, started off incredible (A New Hope), stayed incredible (Empire Strikes Back) and delivered a spectacular conclusion (Return of the Jedi). Based on the reviews I've read, TDKR will cause Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy to follow a similar path. And then you've got the pinnacle of trilogies: Lord of the Rings, in which each movie achieves a whole new level of awesomeness not even dreamt of in the last one. We start out great (Fellowship), then it gets amazing (Two Towers), and in the end we have one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces ever put on a screen anywhere. So, trilogies can be good, assuming they're in good hands.
Quadrilogies are a completely different story of course, but they all seem to follow a similar pattern: the first one is good (Terminator, Alien), the second one is amazing (T2, Aliens), the third one isn't as good as the first two, but it wasn't too bad (T3, Alien 3), and then the fourth one sucks beyond belief (T-Salvation, Alien Resurrection). So quadrilogies usually aren't good.
So, what's your favorite trilogy? Comment below, let me know (I fixed the comment section, so anyone can comment now)!
And as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Anyway, since TDKR is the conclusion of a trilogy, I've decided now would be a good time for trilogy-related rant. I know I haven't done a rant in about two months, but I'm doing one now, so yeah.
So, for those of you who live under a rock, a trilogy is a series, often a series of movies, comprised of three stories all connected to each other.
Trilogies are tough to pull off. The way it seems to go a lot is the first two are awesome, and then one is just a let down, like with Spiderman 3, or X Men: the Last Stand or, my personal least favorite, Karate Kid Part 3, the entry in the series that was painful half the time, and just boring the other half. Although, to be fair, even that one wasn't as bad as the spinoff with Hilary Swank (not being sexist, it was just a lousy movie). Seriously, sometimes the third movie will be so bad that it pretty much ruins the first two, just as KKP3 did by making Daniel act like a complete jerk to Mr. Mayogi (probably spelled that wrong) who basically went out of his way to make sure his life didn't suck.
Heck, sometimes, you wonder why they made sequels to begin with, like with Back to the Future. Back to the Future IS my favorite movie of all time, just so you guys have a point of reference for this. I didn't actually hate either of the sequels, but I can't help but feel like they didn't do the first one justice/fell kind of flat. And then there's the ultimate example of a trilogy that should've stopped after the first movie; that's right, I'm talking about the Matrix. The Matrix (the first one, I mean), kick all kinds of ass, and let's face it, we all love it. So when people found out that a sequel was in the works, the nerd community collectively squealed. And then we saw the Matrix Reloaded and collectively said "Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!" The often bizarre tone, absurdity, slow moments, general stupidity, elements that were rehashed from the first one, and the fact that parts just didn't make sense made it suck to no end (and the fact that we all realized that Keanu Reeves is kind of a lousy actor). And then all of those factors were multiplied by 100 for the craptastic conclusion that was the Matrix Revolutions (don't even get me started).
Don't get me wrong, sometimes a trilogy manages to be good all the way through. The original Star Wars trilogy, for instance, started off incredible (A New Hope), stayed incredible (Empire Strikes Back) and delivered a spectacular conclusion (Return of the Jedi). Based on the reviews I've read, TDKR will cause Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy to follow a similar path. And then you've got the pinnacle of trilogies: Lord of the Rings, in which each movie achieves a whole new level of awesomeness not even dreamt of in the last one. We start out great (Fellowship), then it gets amazing (Two Towers), and in the end we have one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces ever put on a screen anywhere. So, trilogies can be good, assuming they're in good hands.
Quadrilogies are a completely different story of course, but they all seem to follow a similar pattern: the first one is good (Terminator, Alien), the second one is amazing (T2, Aliens), the third one isn't as good as the first two, but it wasn't too bad (T3, Alien 3), and then the fourth one sucks beyond belief (T-Salvation, Alien Resurrection). So quadrilogies usually aren't good.
So, what's your favorite trilogy? Comment below, let me know (I fixed the comment section, so anyone can comment now)!
And as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
LOST Season 3 Review
If anyone ever wants to make the Alcatraz writers feel bad about themselves, just make them watch this.
In A Nutshell:
The Others have taken Jack, Kate, and Sawyer hostage. The Hatch has imploded. Locke, Desmond, and Eko are nowhere to be found, and everyone is kind of freaked out. The first six episodes or so are mainly about Jack and Co., over at the Others camp, and after that the season details the survivors continuing conflict with the Others, through which answers and new questions arrive that I can't discuss lest I violate my own no spoilers policy.
The Good:
Answers finally arrive. Granted, not until later in the season, but we still finally learn, for instance, how Locke wound up in the chair, or why Jack's marriage went to hell. These were some welcomed resolutions. The new questions posed, such as Jacob, kept me hooked most of the time too, especially towards the end of the season. The last five or so episodes of the season were straight up amazing in every way. If I reviewed those individual episodes, I probably give them all 100% ratings. The two-part season finale stands out for me not only because of the cliffhanger they did, but also because they brought something new to the table:
********SPOILER RIGHT HERE!*********
Flashforwards. Not flashbacks, flashforwards. It takes you awhile to catch on to the fact that what they're showing you hasn't happened yet, but when you do, its awesome.
*********END OF SPOILER!!!!!!!!!********
There was another episode, Flashes Before Your Eyes, that also reinvents the flashback aspect of the show in a very compelling way that just really got me. While we're on the topic "it really got me", you should be warned, the season yields multiple major character deaths. I know I've said in other reviews that I've seen so many characters I like die (dammit Whedon!) that I'm kind of numb to the whole thing at this point, but that was proven to be thoroughly not true when some of these folks get killed off, particularly spoiler and spoiler, whose deaths genuinely made me feel something.
The Bad:
The first six episodes, aka the prologue, pose an absurd amount of questions to the point where you may get a bit put off. And while some episodes had amazing and very relevant flashbacks, there were times where the flashbacks felt very tacked on, to the point where you can't help but feel like the writers are just trying to kill time. You've also got the introduction of new characters Nikki and Paulo, who are basically the Riley Finn and... Riley Finn's wife of LOST, i.e., everyone despises them. Another thing is, I actually don't think any character appears in every episode. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that was the case. So basically, everyone was downgraded to recurring character.
Final Rating: 97%
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A Few Announcements
Alright, folks, this post says exactly what it says on the tin.
First and foremost, I am gonna be a bit late with my Dark Knight Rises review. There is no way I'll even be able to get tickets for Friday or midnight on Thursday. The earliest I can see it is Saturday afternoon, so expect a review sometime later that day. I also plan on finally putting out my own Top 10 Comic Book Movies list Sunday.
I also need to say that I do not plan on reviewing any of the old Burton or Schumacher Batman movies before TDKR, so if you were hoping I would, then I'm gonna have to burst your bubble. I've only even seen one of the original four Batman films (Batman 1989, if you're wondering), and I can't say I liked it very much.
Lastly, I have finally fixed the comment section. Now, ANYONE can comment, i.e., you don't have to be a subscriber (but you can subscribe if you want).
That's it, and be sure to check out my other posts, comment, subscribe, all that good stuff!
First and foremost, I am gonna be a bit late with my Dark Knight Rises review. There is no way I'll even be able to get tickets for Friday or midnight on Thursday. The earliest I can see it is Saturday afternoon, so expect a review sometime later that day. I also plan on finally putting out my own Top 10 Comic Book Movies list Sunday.
I also need to say that I do not plan on reviewing any of the old Burton or Schumacher Batman movies before TDKR, so if you were hoping I would, then I'm gonna have to burst your bubble. I've only even seen one of the original four Batman films (Batman 1989, if you're wondering), and I can't say I liked it very much.
Lastly, I have finally fixed the comment section. Now, ANYONE can comment, i.e., you don't have to be a subscriber (but you can subscribe if you want).
That's it, and be sure to check out my other posts, comment, subscribe, all that good stuff!
Movie Reviewed: The Dark Knight
HOCKEY PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As promised, in honor of the Dark Knight Rises, it's time for a review of the Dark Knight, the movie that pretty much guaranteed that TDKR will make an absurd amount of money.
In A Nutshell:
After the events of Batman Begins, Gotham's underworld now lives in fear of the caped crusader, as well as of idealistic DA Harvey Dent, who's determined to clean up the streets legally. The mob is in so much trouble that they bring in the make-up wearing terrorist known as the Joker for help. And from this point on we have an intense, dark, and at times very disturbing story of the war between Joker and Batman.
The Good:
Everything. This movie is amazing. It truly is. So where do I begin?
This movie is intense and amazing to watch. The action and set pieces alone are incredible, with stuff like a truck flipping over, the bat-cycle going up a wall, and the Joker firing a bazooka to get what he wants. The tone of the movie is perfect, an intense and very dark. It grabs and won't let you go until the very end. The plot rules too; the Joker trying to pretty much drag as many people to hell with him as possible keeps you not only engaged, but enthralled. And of course you've got some of the best acting ever: Christian Bale brings all the conflicted antihero and throat infection voice to the table the movie needs and then some, Gary Oldman kicks ass the troubled Lt. Gordon, Maggie Ghylenhaal (I probably didn't spell that right) is a better Rachel Dawes then Katie Holmes, Aaron Echhart is amazing as both Harvey Dent and his... other character, Morgan Freeman is, well, Morgan Freeman, and even Alfred rules here, going beyond old man comedy relief. And of course you've Heath Ledger as the Joker in one of the best performances ever (see "Top 10 Villainous Performances for further details). Okay, now here's the thing: there is absolutely nothing I can say about this movie that hasn't already been said by film scholars, movie critics, comic book nerds, and Christopher Nolan's family, which is why this review isn't very long. The bottom line is that the Dark Knight is incredible on every level imaginable, and if you haven't seen it, then I don't even what planet you're living on.
The Bad:
I got nothing. Seriously, I didn't think anything was even mildly wrong with this movie (and I already gave my opinion on Christian Bale's Batman, thank you very much).
Final Rating: 100% (I think this is the first time I've ever given out 100%)
So, what's your favorite Batman villain? Comment below, let me know!
And as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
As promised, in honor of the Dark Knight Rises, it's time for a review of the Dark Knight, the movie that pretty much guaranteed that TDKR will make an absurd amount of money.
In A Nutshell:
After the events of Batman Begins, Gotham's underworld now lives in fear of the caped crusader, as well as of idealistic DA Harvey Dent, who's determined to clean up the streets legally. The mob is in so much trouble that they bring in the make-up wearing terrorist known as the Joker for help. And from this point on we have an intense, dark, and at times very disturbing story of the war between Joker and Batman.
The Good:
Everything. This movie is amazing. It truly is. So where do I begin?
This movie is intense and amazing to watch. The action and set pieces alone are incredible, with stuff like a truck flipping over, the bat-cycle going up a wall, and the Joker firing a bazooka to get what he wants. The tone of the movie is perfect, an intense and very dark. It grabs and won't let you go until the very end. The plot rules too; the Joker trying to pretty much drag as many people to hell with him as possible keeps you not only engaged, but enthralled. And of course you've got some of the best acting ever: Christian Bale brings all the conflicted antihero and throat infection voice to the table the movie needs and then some, Gary Oldman kicks ass the troubled Lt. Gordon, Maggie Ghylenhaal (I probably didn't spell that right) is a better Rachel Dawes then Katie Holmes, Aaron Echhart is amazing as both Harvey Dent and his... other character, Morgan Freeman is, well, Morgan Freeman, and even Alfred rules here, going beyond old man comedy relief. And of course you've Heath Ledger as the Joker in one of the best performances ever (see "Top 10 Villainous Performances for further details). Okay, now here's the thing: there is absolutely nothing I can say about this movie that hasn't already been said by film scholars, movie critics, comic book nerds, and Christopher Nolan's family, which is why this review isn't very long. The bottom line is that the Dark Knight is incredible on every level imaginable, and if you haven't seen it, then I don't even what planet you're living on.
The Bad:
I got nothing. Seriously, I didn't think anything was even mildly wrong with this movie (and I already gave my opinion on Christian Bale's Batman, thank you very much).
Final Rating: 100% (I think this is the first time I've ever given out 100%)
So, what's your favorite Batman villain? Comment below, let me know!
And as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles Season 1 Review
It's like someone was watching Terminator 3 and said "wait a minute..."
In A Nutshell:
So, in an alternate time line in which T3 never happened, Sarah and John Conner are still on the run from the law only to find that Judgement Day is still going to happen, but in the year 2011 (I'm writing this in 2012, so I think they fixed it). How does this happen? Well, two new Terminators arrive from the future, Cromartie (bad guy), and Cameron (good guy/girl, played by none other then Summer Glau). So, once again, they set out to stop Judgement Day, this time by doing a little time travel of their own,while still dealing with robots, resistance fighters, and FBI agent James Ellison (watered down version of Paul Ballard).
The Good:
There were plenty of ways this could of gone wrong, so many that I was actually genuinely surprised by how good this was. The show boasts all the intense, polished action scenes we loved the movies for, while still offering a good amount of introspection and depth (every episode starts out with Sarah doing a fairly deep voice over). A great aspect of the show is it's not afraid to do it's own thing, either, inventing new characters who are pretty awesome, most notably Derek Reese, brother of John's father. His story line was great, and he was just a good character in general, and gave us a top-notch Epitaph 1-esque episode by way of Dungeons and Dragons. And if you think that the show did a "terminator of the week" format, think again; the show uses a fantastically developed serialized format with a story that will keep you attention. By no means is this a revolutionary show, but it's absolutely a good time. The acting is great too, especially by Summer Glau your new favorite robot, Brian Austen Green as uncle Reese, and of course Lena Heady as Sarah Conner, filling in nicely for Linda Hamilton. Amazingly enough, John usually wasn't portrayed as whiny teenager (I say usually because he had his moments), and you could actually believe he might be some sort of military leader based on this portrayal of the character.
The Bad:
They had a few continuity issues with Cameron at first, mostly because in the pilot she passes for human without a hitch, but afterwards she makes it pretty obvious she's not a normal kid. There was also the fact that the season was only nine episodes, but that's the fault of the writers strike. At times, the plot does lag and rely too much on Cameron=fish out of water jokes, and there are instances where John does some major whining. It also doesn't feel quite as epic as it should, but that might just be because they're on a pretty small scale (and a very limited budget).
Final Rating: 90%
Be sure to comment, subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
In A Nutshell:
So, in an alternate time line in which T3 never happened, Sarah and John Conner are still on the run from the law only to find that Judgement Day is still going to happen, but in the year 2011 (I'm writing this in 2012, so I think they fixed it). How does this happen? Well, two new Terminators arrive from the future, Cromartie (bad guy), and Cameron (good guy/girl, played by none other then Summer Glau). So, once again, they set out to stop Judgement Day, this time by doing a little time travel of their own,while still dealing with robots, resistance fighters, and FBI agent James Ellison (watered down version of Paul Ballard).
The Good:
There were plenty of ways this could of gone wrong, so many that I was actually genuinely surprised by how good this was. The show boasts all the intense, polished action scenes we loved the movies for, while still offering a good amount of introspection and depth (every episode starts out with Sarah doing a fairly deep voice over). A great aspect of the show is it's not afraid to do it's own thing, either, inventing new characters who are pretty awesome, most notably Derek Reese, brother of John's father. His story line was great, and he was just a good character in general, and gave us a top-notch Epitaph 1-esque episode by way of Dungeons and Dragons. And if you think that the show did a "terminator of the week" format, think again; the show uses a fantastically developed serialized format with a story that will keep you attention. By no means is this a revolutionary show, but it's absolutely a good time. The acting is great too, especially by Summer Glau your new favorite robot, Brian Austen Green as uncle Reese, and of course Lena Heady as Sarah Conner, filling in nicely for Linda Hamilton. Amazingly enough, John usually wasn't portrayed as whiny teenager (I say usually because he had his moments), and you could actually believe he might be some sort of military leader based on this portrayal of the character.
The Bad:
They had a few continuity issues with Cameron at first, mostly because in the pilot she passes for human without a hitch, but afterwards she makes it pretty obvious she's not a normal kid. There was also the fact that the season was only nine episodes, but that's the fault of the writers strike. At times, the plot does lag and rely too much on Cameron=fish out of water jokes, and there are instances where John does some major whining. It also doesn't feel quite as epic as it should, but that might just be because they're on a pretty small scale (and a very limited budget).
Final Rating: 90%
Be sure to comment, subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Movie Reviewed: Batman Begins
Nolan: "If we make it more then just a movie, if we devote it to awesomeness, then it becomes something else entirely."
Studio: "What's that?"
Nolan: "Legend, Mr. studio executives. A legend."
And the legend is born.
Alright, in honor of the release of the Dark Knight Rises this coming Friday, I've decided to do reviews for the previous entries in Christopher Nolan's Batman series, starting, naturally, with where the legend began, Batman Begins.
In A Nutshell:
So, here we've got Bruce Wayne, heir to an absurd amount of money. He's got a pretty good life. And then his parents get killed, and it's sort of his fault. So, he goes all angsty for awhile, and then he winds up in the far east, where, after some jail, is trained by a mysterious man who looks a lot like Liam Neeson to become a crime-fighting vigilante. He then returns to his native Gotham, and, with the help of his butler Alfred and pal Lucius Fox, becomes the Batman and fights crime. Scratch that, he doesn't fight crime, he makes crime fear him. When he's in the bat-suit, he destroys people (no-kill policy is in place though, keep holy the 4th Commandment). And then Scarecrow comes to town, along with a few old enemies.
The Good:
Where do I start? How about with the fact that this IS the greatest portrayal of a superhero's origin story I personally have ever seen. It was. And before you guys troll me, yes, I am completely aware of the fact that this was not the origin story from the comics. But this was so freaking epic that if you care, you've got to sort out your priorities. Liam Neeson was perfect as the sculptor of the legend and helped make this origin perfect. So yeah, really awesome origin story, and that's especially because this is the first movie in which any actual screentime has been devoted to Batman's origins. In Batman 1989 they spent a solid three and a half minutes talking about it (as opposed to the 45 minute's the Joker's origins got). So when they do the origins and make them really epic, I'm a happy person.
The origins lead into the larger plot of Bruce Wayne as Batman, and like I said a little ways up, when he's Batman, he is a force to be dealt with. One of my favorite scenes in the whole movie is when they're at the docks and Batman's taking out those guys and he is messing with their heads ( Thug: "Where are you!?" Batman, right behind thug,: "Here"). You can tell he gets a little sadistic kick out of it, too, and I personally loved that whole "I'm gonna toy with these guys and beat them up" MO. The action itself is awesome, too. There wasn't one fight or car chase or explosion that I wasn't satisfied with, and frankly, Christian Bale makes Batman the badass we all want him to be. I also really liked the plot itself, with Scarecrow and the mob, and all that awesome stuff. So, great plot and action. What's next.
And now the acting. Christian Bale is an amazing actor, and he is the best Batman, and you all know it, too. I'm just gonna get this out of the way now: His Batman voice ISN'T hard to understand. It really isn't. Never once over the course of this movie or The Dark Knight did I have trouble understanding him. You people saying you couldn't tell what he was saying are just haters. Now where was I? Oh yeah, Christian Bale makes Bruce Wayne relatable and believable as a person, and you root for him. And as Batman, he's a total badass. I loved Liam Neeson here too, because, well he's Liam Neeson. I've never seen a Neeson movie where he didn't bring all he's got to the table, and this is no exception. Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow did well with what he was given, and he was actually sort of terrifying. Michael Caine plays old man comedy relief Alfred, and let's face it, we all love Alfred, especially here, because Michael Caine, well, is awesome. Him and Morgan Freeman (who was great, by the way) basically steal the show every time they're on screen. Katie Holmes was another person in the movie who did well with what she was given. Bottom line, amazing acting.
And then of course you've got the scene towards the end that hints at what's to come...
The Bad:
One gripe. One. Scarecrow was underused. He just was. Beyond that, no complaints.
Final Rating: 95%
So, what's your favorite superhero origin story movie? Comment below, let me know!
And as always, be sure to comment, subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Studio: "What's that?"
Nolan: "Legend, Mr. studio executives. A legend."
And the legend is born.
Alright, in honor of the release of the Dark Knight Rises this coming Friday, I've decided to do reviews for the previous entries in Christopher Nolan's Batman series, starting, naturally, with where the legend began, Batman Begins.
In A Nutshell:
So, here we've got Bruce Wayne, heir to an absurd amount of money. He's got a pretty good life. And then his parents get killed, and it's sort of his fault. So, he goes all angsty for awhile, and then he winds up in the far east, where, after some jail, is trained by a mysterious man who looks a lot like Liam Neeson to become a crime-fighting vigilante. He then returns to his native Gotham, and, with the help of his butler Alfred and pal Lucius Fox, becomes the Batman and fights crime. Scratch that, he doesn't fight crime, he makes crime fear him. When he's in the bat-suit, he destroys people (no-kill policy is in place though, keep holy the 4th Commandment). And then Scarecrow comes to town, along with a few old enemies.
The Good:
Where do I start? How about with the fact that this IS the greatest portrayal of a superhero's origin story I personally have ever seen. It was. And before you guys troll me, yes, I am completely aware of the fact that this was not the origin story from the comics. But this was so freaking epic that if you care, you've got to sort out your priorities. Liam Neeson was perfect as the sculptor of the legend and helped make this origin perfect. So yeah, really awesome origin story, and that's especially because this is the first movie in which any actual screentime has been devoted to Batman's origins. In Batman 1989 they spent a solid three and a half minutes talking about it (as opposed to the 45 minute's the Joker's origins got). So when they do the origins and make them really epic, I'm a happy person.
The origins lead into the larger plot of Bruce Wayne as Batman, and like I said a little ways up, when he's Batman, he is a force to be dealt with. One of my favorite scenes in the whole movie is when they're at the docks and Batman's taking out those guys and he is messing with their heads ( Thug: "Where are you!?" Batman, right behind thug,: "Here"). You can tell he gets a little sadistic kick out of it, too, and I personally loved that whole "I'm gonna toy with these guys and beat them up" MO. The action itself is awesome, too. There wasn't one fight or car chase or explosion that I wasn't satisfied with, and frankly, Christian Bale makes Batman the badass we all want him to be. I also really liked the plot itself, with Scarecrow and the mob, and all that awesome stuff. So, great plot and action. What's next.
And now the acting. Christian Bale is an amazing actor, and he is the best Batman, and you all know it, too. I'm just gonna get this out of the way now: His Batman voice ISN'T hard to understand. It really isn't. Never once over the course of this movie or The Dark Knight did I have trouble understanding him. You people saying you couldn't tell what he was saying are just haters. Now where was I? Oh yeah, Christian Bale makes Bruce Wayne relatable and believable as a person, and you root for him. And as Batman, he's a total badass. I loved Liam Neeson here too, because, well he's Liam Neeson. I've never seen a Neeson movie where he didn't bring all he's got to the table, and this is no exception. Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow did well with what he was given, and he was actually sort of terrifying. Michael Caine plays old man comedy relief Alfred, and let's face it, we all love Alfred, especially here, because Michael Caine, well, is awesome. Him and Morgan Freeman (who was great, by the way) basically steal the show every time they're on screen. Katie Holmes was another person in the movie who did well with what she was given. Bottom line, amazing acting.
And then of course you've got the scene towards the end that hints at what's to come...
The Bad:
One gripe. One. Scarecrow was underused. He just was. Beyond that, no complaints.
Final Rating: 95%
So, what's your favorite superhero origin story movie? Comment below, let me know!
And as always, be sure to comment, subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Episode Reviewed: Falling Skies: Homecoming
They are all screwed...
In A Nutshell:
Karen's back. No harness, but lots of Ben's Captain America powers. Naturally, they shut her up in the hospital and have Ben, who thinks she's got major ulterior motives, keep watch on her. Hal's going nuts about the whole situation, the bulk of 2nd Mass is suspicious, and Two-Gun Maggie, well, take a wild guess. And at the same time, Weaver's getting very sick, and someone else returns to the 2nd Mass.
The Good:
I saw the promo for this episode, and I thought to myself, "if this is a love triangle episode, I will never watch this show again." Fortunately, this was not a love triangle episode. Instead, the episode is used to take the story in a new direction, ending in a cliffhanger that poses questions and gets you excited for next week. Pretty much every scene with Karen (Jessy Schram did a great job this episode as a still creeptastic Karen) in it, you can't help but think, "this is not gonna end well", and I think they just did a good job speeding up the story, and they actually managed to characterize Ben a bit more beyond "angsty, sociopathic, spikey Captain America". Seeing Karen and Ben interact in this episode was also pretty interesting. The bottom line was that this episode not only improved things a bit from the last two, pretty weak episodes, while showing us where the story is heading and posing some new questions along the way. Plus, who didn't get a weird kick out of seeing Maggie with the two guns again?
The Bad:
The b-plot with Weaver being sick felt a bit contrived. It was kind of like the writers knew that they didn't have enough material with Karen to support an entire 40 minute episode, so they came up with something random and somewhat irrelevant to kill 15 minutes (at least they didn't go the Alcatraz route and use flashbacks of some random character we don't give a damn about). I think they might have been trying to develop Tom more by putting him in a position he doesn't like, but that was not what made up the bulk of this subplot, making it all the more tacked on.
Final Rating: 88%
In A Nutshell:
Karen's back. No harness, but lots of Ben's Captain America powers. Naturally, they shut her up in the hospital and have Ben, who thinks she's got major ulterior motives, keep watch on her. Hal's going nuts about the whole situation, the bulk of 2nd Mass is suspicious, and Two-Gun Maggie, well, take a wild guess. And at the same time, Weaver's getting very sick, and someone else returns to the 2nd Mass.
The Good:
I saw the promo for this episode, and I thought to myself, "if this is a love triangle episode, I will never watch this show again." Fortunately, this was not a love triangle episode. Instead, the episode is used to take the story in a new direction, ending in a cliffhanger that poses questions and gets you excited for next week. Pretty much every scene with Karen (Jessy Schram did a great job this episode as a still creeptastic Karen) in it, you can't help but think, "this is not gonna end well", and I think they just did a good job speeding up the story, and they actually managed to characterize Ben a bit more beyond "angsty, sociopathic, spikey Captain America". Seeing Karen and Ben interact in this episode was also pretty interesting. The bottom line was that this episode not only improved things a bit from the last two, pretty weak episodes, while showing us where the story is heading and posing some new questions along the way. Plus, who didn't get a weird kick out of seeing Maggie with the two guns again?
The Bad:
The b-plot with Weaver being sick felt a bit contrived. It was kind of like the writers knew that they didn't have enough material with Karen to support an entire 40 minute episode, so they came up with something random and somewhat irrelevant to kill 15 minutes (at least they didn't go the Alcatraz route and use flashbacks of some random character we don't give a damn about). I think they might have been trying to develop Tom more by putting him in a position he doesn't like, but that was not what made up the bulk of this subplot, making it all the more tacked on.
Final Rating: 88%
Saturday, July 14, 2012
LOST Season 2 Review
And the plot thickens...
The second season of LOST picks up right after the first, with the hatch being blown open, Charlie apparently falling back onto some old habits, Walt being kidnapped by the others, and Michael, Jin, and Sawyer, who just got shot in the shoulder, drifting through the ocean on chunks of broken raft.
The first major story line this season is the hatch, and it's an interesting one. The first three episodes center around it in a pretty brilliant way. Let me explain: the first two episodes show the events following several characters entering the hatch at different times. The first episode is from Jack's perspective, the second being from Locke's. On paper, that might not sound enthralling, but the way they do it is pretty awesome. I just really like it when they do the dual-perspectives thing period. Then the third episode is when we get some answers... sort of. Okay, not really, but it was good. The hatch itself is an interesting setting, mostly because it gives off the feeling of "okay what the hell is going on..." and, I won't spoil anything if you haven't seen it, but the story arcs that come from this season are awesome. So yeah, the hatch kicks all manners of ass.
The second major story line is the new characters, specifically Desmond and the survivors of the tail section of the plane. That's right, they're still alive. Desmond is awesome, but, once again, I can't talk about him too much. Second to Desmond is Mr. Eko. He's the man. At times, you could tell the writers weren't sure what to do with him, but he's still awesome. Seriously, more shows need a character like Eko. Some of the other characters feel a bit like they're being shoved down our throats though, especially Ana Lucia and, to an extent, Rose's husband Bernard.
And of course, we have the Others. The Others were easily the best part of the season for me personally. Whenever they're around, you just have that feeling that (expletive removed) is going down. So many questions are raised because of them that it almost makes your head spin. So yeah, the Others kick ass and kind of make the season.
The goal of season 1 was to provide set-up, so the goal of this season was show what the set-up was for. To extent, they do that. They show us a bunch of intriguing overarching mysteries that you can't get enough of. But, they didn't do this perfectly. Chunks of the season had some sub-par writing quality, and other times, episodes just wouldn't get to the point. Example: half an episode is dedicated to Sawyer chasing an annoying frog around this island. That is textbook stalling, and when they do that, it's really annoying. The richness of character from season 1 is still very much there, as new layers are added to just about everyone. At times, the directions some characters went in were a bit painful to watch (cough cough, Charlie), but for the most part, they succeeded in making the characters seem like actual human beings.
The bottom line is that this was a great season of a truly great show.
Final Rating: 94%
The second season of LOST picks up right after the first, with the hatch being blown open, Charlie apparently falling back onto some old habits, Walt being kidnapped by the others, and Michael, Jin, and Sawyer, who just got shot in the shoulder, drifting through the ocean on chunks of broken raft.
The first major story line this season is the hatch, and it's an interesting one. The first three episodes center around it in a pretty brilliant way. Let me explain: the first two episodes show the events following several characters entering the hatch at different times. The first episode is from Jack's perspective, the second being from Locke's. On paper, that might not sound enthralling, but the way they do it is pretty awesome. I just really like it when they do the dual-perspectives thing period. Then the third episode is when we get some answers... sort of. Okay, not really, but it was good. The hatch itself is an interesting setting, mostly because it gives off the feeling of "okay what the hell is going on..." and, I won't spoil anything if you haven't seen it, but the story arcs that come from this season are awesome. So yeah, the hatch kicks all manners of ass.
The second major story line is the new characters, specifically Desmond and the survivors of the tail section of the plane. That's right, they're still alive. Desmond is awesome, but, once again, I can't talk about him too much. Second to Desmond is Mr. Eko. He's the man. At times, you could tell the writers weren't sure what to do with him, but he's still awesome. Seriously, more shows need a character like Eko. Some of the other characters feel a bit like they're being shoved down our throats though, especially Ana Lucia and, to an extent, Rose's husband Bernard.
And of course, we have the Others. The Others were easily the best part of the season for me personally. Whenever they're around, you just have that feeling that (expletive removed) is going down. So many questions are raised because of them that it almost makes your head spin. So yeah, the Others kick ass and kind of make the season.
The goal of season 1 was to provide set-up, so the goal of this season was show what the set-up was for. To extent, they do that. They show us a bunch of intriguing overarching mysteries that you can't get enough of. But, they didn't do this perfectly. Chunks of the season had some sub-par writing quality, and other times, episodes just wouldn't get to the point. Example: half an episode is dedicated to Sawyer chasing an annoying frog around this island. That is textbook stalling, and when they do that, it's really annoying. The richness of character from season 1 is still very much there, as new layers are added to just about everyone. At times, the directions some characters went in were a bit painful to watch (cough cough, Charlie), but for the most part, they succeeded in making the characters seem like actual human beings.
The bottom line is that this was a great season of a truly great show.
Final Rating: 94%
Movie Reviewed: Superman 2
Yeah, yeah, I know they spelled it II in the movie. I'm lazy, give me a brake.
Alright, so now that I've watched the sequel to the comic book movie that started all comic book movies, it's review time. I should clarify, I watched the original theatrical version, not the Richard Donner cut, so I'll be reviewing that.
Heads up, I am reviewing this with spoilers. Odds are, you already know the plot of this movie, but either way you've been warned.
So, Superman 2 starts off with a quick recap of the first movie along with the music, which I personally thought was a nice touch and it's probably helpful for people who never saw the first one. Then we cut to Nerdy-Reporter Man AKA Clark Kent finding out Lois is near a hostage situation in Paris and flies in, saves her, and throws a bomb into space. The problem? The explosion destroys the doorway to the Phantom Zone, releasing General Zod, the man who destroyed Kryton, and his minions whose names escape me. Zod then goes to Earth and starts destroying stuff, eventually carving out a plan for world domination. I'll speak for a moment about Zod: he was awesome. Terrence Stamp as General Zod was one of the best parts of the entire movie. He says all of his lines perfectly, he kicks some ass, destroys stuff, he's freaking evil, and, above all else, he says one of the best lines in the history of movies: "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!"I love that line. Granted, Zod as a tad underdeveloped, and his minions are like that in the extreme.
While all this is happening, Lois Lane rather unceremoniously learns that Clark is actually Superman, and since the two are pretty flipped for each other, they go on a date at the Fortress. But, Clark can't be with her if he's Superman, so he willing gives up his powers. And then he finds that Zod has raised hell on Earth (buzzkill), so he has to get his powers back. The romance side of this movie was a vital part, but at times it does feel a bit dragged out. Don't get me wrong, the actors have good chemistry and they make it really believable, and I thought it was a good character moment for Clark/Superman when he has to re-become the Man of Steel and give up what he wants to do the right thing, but there are moments where it makes the movie feel slow. At the end of the movie, Clark wipes Lois memory, making her forget that he's Superman. I personally loved that, and I think it really does embody who Superman is.
I won't lie, the movie takes a while to get going. The slow build-up pays off to an extent, but I was put off by how long it took to get to the point. There's also an absurd amount of humor along the way, which I have mixed feelings about. Some of the jokes were really funny, but others just weren't and made the movie feel overly campy, something I'm not a fan of. Lex Luthor is back in the movie too, and I actually like him better in this movie just because he actually does sort of steal the show, but his presence doesn't feel necessary most of the time. And he still says "I am Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mastermind of the 20th century! Bwahh!"Then you've got the final fight scene, which was actually really cool despite the dated special effects and provides a very satisfying climax. I say despite the special effects, which are pretty bad and prevent the fight from being genuinely awesome.
Overall, I enjoyed Superman 2, but I I liked the first one better.
Final Rating: 85%
So, whose your favorite Superman villain? Comment below, let me know!
And, as always, be sure to comment, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Alright, so now that I've watched the sequel to the comic book movie that started all comic book movies, it's review time. I should clarify, I watched the original theatrical version, not the Richard Donner cut, so I'll be reviewing that.
Heads up, I am reviewing this with spoilers. Odds are, you already know the plot of this movie, but either way you've been warned.
So, Superman 2 starts off with a quick recap of the first movie along with the music, which I personally thought was a nice touch and it's probably helpful for people who never saw the first one. Then we cut to Nerdy-Reporter Man AKA Clark Kent finding out Lois is near a hostage situation in Paris and flies in, saves her, and throws a bomb into space. The problem? The explosion destroys the doorway to the Phantom Zone, releasing General Zod, the man who destroyed Kryton, and his minions whose names escape me. Zod then goes to Earth and starts destroying stuff, eventually carving out a plan for world domination. I'll speak for a moment about Zod: he was awesome. Terrence Stamp as General Zod was one of the best parts of the entire movie. He says all of his lines perfectly, he kicks some ass, destroys stuff, he's freaking evil, and, above all else, he says one of the best lines in the history of movies: "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!"I love that line. Granted, Zod as a tad underdeveloped, and his minions are like that in the extreme.
While all this is happening, Lois Lane rather unceremoniously learns that Clark is actually Superman, and since the two are pretty flipped for each other, they go on a date at the Fortress. But, Clark can't be with her if he's Superman, so he willing gives up his powers. And then he finds that Zod has raised hell on Earth (buzzkill), so he has to get his powers back. The romance side of this movie was a vital part, but at times it does feel a bit dragged out. Don't get me wrong, the actors have good chemistry and they make it really believable, and I thought it was a good character moment for Clark/Superman when he has to re-become the Man of Steel and give up what he wants to do the right thing, but there are moments where it makes the movie feel slow. At the end of the movie, Clark wipes Lois memory, making her forget that he's Superman. I personally loved that, and I think it really does embody who Superman is.
I won't lie, the movie takes a while to get going. The slow build-up pays off to an extent, but I was put off by how long it took to get to the point. There's also an absurd amount of humor along the way, which I have mixed feelings about. Some of the jokes were really funny, but others just weren't and made the movie feel overly campy, something I'm not a fan of. Lex Luthor is back in the movie too, and I actually like him better in this movie just because he actually does sort of steal the show, but his presence doesn't feel necessary most of the time. And he still says "I am Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mastermind of the 20th century! Bwahh!"Then you've got the final fight scene, which was actually really cool despite the dated special effects and provides a very satisfying climax. I say despite the special effects, which are pretty bad and prevent the fight from being genuinely awesome.
Overall, I enjoyed Superman 2, but I I liked the first one better.
Final Rating: 85%
So, whose your favorite Superman villain? Comment below, let me know!
And, as always, be sure to comment, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Friday, July 13, 2012
The Walking Dead Season 3 Trailer
The first trailer for the third season of the Walking Dead was unveiled today, and I have got to post this. This one of the best, most intense trailers I've seen in a while.
Behold.
Behold.
5 Forgotten Movies
Wait... what are we talking about?
Some of them were pretty good, others kind of sucked, but either way, you don't remember them. I'm talking about the movies that you see and have completely forgotten about them after a week, then you hear about them a while later and go, "oh yeah, I forgot that movies exists". Think of this as a reminder that yes, they exist. Let it be noted that yes, I am well aware that there are a lot of sequels here.
I was gonna right this as a top ten at first, but I couldn't think of/remember enough movies that fit the bill. I guess that means those movies really deserve the title.
5. Back to the Future Part 2
The first entry in the series is one of my favorite movies ever, the third one had the gimmicks of the old west and a flying, time traveling train, but this one is just kind of there. Marty and Doc to the future, Marty winds up changing the present, and so they have to go back 1955 to save the day. If you've seen it,then you were probably able to tell this exists mainly to bring us to the third one. The plot was at times really depressing, slow, and a tad ludicrous. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It was a solid B-movie that makes no sense without the first and exists to connect the first movie with the third to the point that you forget about it. Heck, in my mind, the third and second ones are one movie anyway, so, yeah.
4. Apollo 18
So I saw this when it came out last summer, and my immediate reaction was "did I really just pay money to see that?" And I did, too. I kind of hated this movie for the entire three days I spent telling people not to see it. And then I forgot it until I was trying to think of movies for this list and it popped into my head. It's a found footage movie about a bunch of astronauts who go to the moon secretly and die by spiders. And the whole thing was actually an ad. Yes, I'm serious. Most people don't even know it exists, and those who do agree with me in the belief that we shouldn't have payed money to see it. And believe me, it isn't something that'll leave you talking.
3. Superman Returns
Do I even need to explain it?
2. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Granted, even after ten years, the sequel to T2 wasn't gonna leave people talking. Truth be told, it kind of is T2, but with no Sarah Conner and much more depressing ending. You think the T2 ending was sad, then you haven't seen this. John Conner is 25 years old, he lives off the grid, and another robot from the future is back to kill him. So, Arnold has to protect him. Again. They go on the run and attempt another mission to destroy Skynet and prevent judgement day. It's a shame that this goes forgotten, because it's actually a pretty good movie. But, like I said, it's a bit of a rehash, Cameron didn't even direct it, and most people just didn't see it. Or, they just forgot about it. Like I did.
1. The X Files: I Want to Believe
After six years, Mulder and Scully are called back into action to investigate a missing FBI agent and a strange psychic. So few people even know this movie exists it's kind of disturbing. Granted, some people hated it, but others liked it. The thing is, this movie plays up on the monster of the week aspect of the TV show, which most people forget about, and put it in a 100 minute format. So you are just watching a 100 MOTW. It's a pretty good one, but most people aren't gonna remember a movie that's basically just a one and mystery these days. And that's why it takes the number one spot.
Some of them were pretty good, others kind of sucked, but either way, you don't remember them. I'm talking about the movies that you see and have completely forgotten about them after a week, then you hear about them a while later and go, "oh yeah, I forgot that movies exists". Think of this as a reminder that yes, they exist. Let it be noted that yes, I am well aware that there are a lot of sequels here.
I was gonna right this as a top ten at first, but I couldn't think of/remember enough movies that fit the bill. I guess that means those movies really deserve the title.
5. Back to the Future Part 2
The first entry in the series is one of my favorite movies ever, the third one had the gimmicks of the old west and a flying, time traveling train, but this one is just kind of there. Marty and Doc to the future, Marty winds up changing the present, and so they have to go back 1955 to save the day. If you've seen it,then you were probably able to tell this exists mainly to bring us to the third one. The plot was at times really depressing, slow, and a tad ludicrous. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It was a solid B-movie that makes no sense without the first and exists to connect the first movie with the third to the point that you forget about it. Heck, in my mind, the third and second ones are one movie anyway, so, yeah.
4. Apollo 18
So I saw this when it came out last summer, and my immediate reaction was "did I really just pay money to see that?" And I did, too. I kind of hated this movie for the entire three days I spent telling people not to see it. And then I forgot it until I was trying to think of movies for this list and it popped into my head. It's a found footage movie about a bunch of astronauts who go to the moon secretly and die by spiders. And the whole thing was actually an ad. Yes, I'm serious. Most people don't even know it exists, and those who do agree with me in the belief that we shouldn't have payed money to see it. And believe me, it isn't something that'll leave you talking.
3. Superman Returns
Do I even need to explain it?
2. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Granted, even after ten years, the sequel to T2 wasn't gonna leave people talking. Truth be told, it kind of is T2, but with no Sarah Conner and much more depressing ending. You think the T2 ending was sad, then you haven't seen this. John Conner is 25 years old, he lives off the grid, and another robot from the future is back to kill him. So, Arnold has to protect him. Again. They go on the run and attempt another mission to destroy Skynet and prevent judgement day. It's a shame that this goes forgotten, because it's actually a pretty good movie. But, like I said, it's a bit of a rehash, Cameron didn't even direct it, and most people just didn't see it. Or, they just forgot about it. Like I did.
1. The X Files: I Want to Believe
After six years, Mulder and Scully are called back into action to investigate a missing FBI agent and a strange psychic. So few people even know this movie exists it's kind of disturbing. Granted, some people hated it, but others liked it. The thing is, this movie plays up on the monster of the week aspect of the TV show, which most people forget about, and put it in a 100 minute format. So you are just watching a 100 MOTW. It's a pretty good one, but most people aren't gonna remember a movie that's basically just a one and mystery these days. And that's why it takes the number one spot.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Smallville Series Review
Look up in the sky... wait, no we're not there quite yet.
Now that I've finished reviewing all ten seasons of the hit series Smallville, it's time to look at the long-running cult series as a whole.
Smallville is the story of Clark Kent in the years before he was Superman, as he grows up in Smallville, Kansas, deals with his alien heritage, and learns to harness his amazing powers for good. The show spanned ten seasons, the first five of which were on the WB, and the last five were on the CW after the WB went bankrupt.
The show begins with baby Clark arriving on Earth in a massive meteor shower that destroys most of the town. We then pick up twelve years later; Clark is in high school, he's an outcast, he's nuts about a girl who's out of his league, and he just met Lex Luthor. Lex accidently hit Clark with his car and drove them both off a bridge. After Clark saves Lex's life, the two have a bromance for the next few seasons, but then, as the series progresses, they devolve into frenemies, and later full on mortal enemies. This is one of the best aspects the show, because, a., the idea of two people who you know will battle for all eternity starting out as best buds is brilliant yet somewhat terrifying, and b., Michael Rosenbaum's performance as Lex Luthor is not only amazing, but it's also the first time in any live action thing where Luthor is meant to be taken seriously (i.e., no "I am Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mastermind of the 20th century! Bwahh!!").
The show actually gets off to a rough start, with the first few seasons mainly being a mix of sappy teen drama/angst and Clark fighting generic, repetitious meteor freaks of the week, which are people who get super powers from exposure to Kryptonite, just referred to as meteor rocks until season two. Long story short, season 1 wasn't too good. Seasons two and three picked things up a bit by incorporating more Superman mythology into the show and casting Terrence Stamp as the disembodied voice of Jor-El and Christopher Reeve himself as a man who I can't tell you about. Those episodes were good, but the freaks of the week were still present and holding the show back. In season four, which had a couple of pretty ludicrous story lines, they began to bring in more DC universe heroes for episodes, starting with the Flash (technically it was Impulse, but he had the Flash's origins. Go figure). And while they never did get to do a crossover with Batman, Clark did also meet, in addition to Impulse, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter, leading up to an early Justice League story line that kicked all kinds of ass.
Season five saw the show start to pick up more by having Clark not be in High School anymore and by bringing in James Marsters to play Braniac (it was so weird hearing him not have a British accent). Season five did still have it's flaws, mostly because at that point, Clark's girlfriend Lana started to get really annoying. By season six, pretty much everyone hated her, and she occasionally made the show feel like complete soap opera despite it's very present awesomeness by way of the Phantom Zone and the Justice League. Season seven, for me personally, is when the show really started to find it's groove, with characters like Supergirl, Bizarro, Braniac, and Jimmy Olsen, as well as Lex completing his descent into complete evil. Season 8 saw Lex and Lana both go AWOL and Doomsday was brought in as a villain. But they had Doomsday have a Jekyll-Hyde thing that made you feel really sorry for the guy who the beast resides in. Season 9 was my favorite season, with a younger incarnation Zod and the darker tone it decided take, plus my favorite episode of the entire series, Absolute Justice. Season ten proves to show the true foundations of Clark's becoming Superman with his battles against Darkseid and his relationship with Lois Lane.
As annoying as the meteor freaks were in early seasons (believe me, they were), they ultimately paid off for some pretty cool story arcs in the later seasons. The later seasons are significantly better then the earlier ones, just because it actually starts to feel like Superman. The epicness contained in some episodes were amazing.
As far as characters went, Clark himself originally came off as a bit winy, but he does mature as the show progresses. When he finally stops brooding, you start to root for him. Like I said above, Lex Luthor was truly amazing on this show, but Lana Lang eventually became painful to watch. And then there's Lois Lane; just as Clark and Lex start out as best buds, Lois and Clark start out kind of hating each other, with constant personality clashes and arguments. But, as was obvious, they eventually become pretty nuts about each other. Ma and Pa Kent were done pretty well here too, partly because, for the first time they weren't 65 years old, and the actors did great jobs. They also created a character for the show in Clark's friend Chloe, who pretty much everyone loves, and not just because she is very hot. The most prominent Superhero other then Clark is Green Arrow, portrayed as a charismatic badass who you can't help but like.
In the end, what was good about the show was the cool action, character development, and classic Superman and DC universe mythos (they covered everything, from the JSA to Checkmate to even Superboy). What was bad about it was annoying soapy elements, freak of the weeks episodes, and lackluster special effects (the show operated on a severely limited budget, leading to a lot of action sequences being disappointingly short). When Smallville was good, it was amazing, but it was bad, it burned us. But overall, the good outweighed the bad and led to one of my favorite shows to ever grace the TV screen, and probably the best comic book-based TV show of all time.
So have you seen Smallville? What'd you think? What was your favorite episode? Your favorite season? Comment below, let me know?
And, as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Now that I've finished reviewing all ten seasons of the hit series Smallville, it's time to look at the long-running cult series as a whole.
Smallville is the story of Clark Kent in the years before he was Superman, as he grows up in Smallville, Kansas, deals with his alien heritage, and learns to harness his amazing powers for good. The show spanned ten seasons, the first five of which were on the WB, and the last five were on the CW after the WB went bankrupt.
The show begins with baby Clark arriving on Earth in a massive meteor shower that destroys most of the town. We then pick up twelve years later; Clark is in high school, he's an outcast, he's nuts about a girl who's out of his league, and he just met Lex Luthor. Lex accidently hit Clark with his car and drove them both off a bridge. After Clark saves Lex's life, the two have a bromance for the next few seasons, but then, as the series progresses, they devolve into frenemies, and later full on mortal enemies. This is one of the best aspects the show, because, a., the idea of two people who you know will battle for all eternity starting out as best buds is brilliant yet somewhat terrifying, and b., Michael Rosenbaum's performance as Lex Luthor is not only amazing, but it's also the first time in any live action thing where Luthor is meant to be taken seriously (i.e., no "I am Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mastermind of the 20th century! Bwahh!!").
The show actually gets off to a rough start, with the first few seasons mainly being a mix of sappy teen drama/angst and Clark fighting generic, repetitious meteor freaks of the week, which are people who get super powers from exposure to Kryptonite, just referred to as meteor rocks until season two. Long story short, season 1 wasn't too good. Seasons two and three picked things up a bit by incorporating more Superman mythology into the show and casting Terrence Stamp as the disembodied voice of Jor-El and Christopher Reeve himself as a man who I can't tell you about. Those episodes were good, but the freaks of the week were still present and holding the show back. In season four, which had a couple of pretty ludicrous story lines, they began to bring in more DC universe heroes for episodes, starting with the Flash (technically it was Impulse, but he had the Flash's origins. Go figure). And while they never did get to do a crossover with Batman, Clark did also meet, in addition to Impulse, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter, leading up to an early Justice League story line that kicked all kinds of ass.
Season five saw the show start to pick up more by having Clark not be in High School anymore and by bringing in James Marsters to play Braniac (it was so weird hearing him not have a British accent). Season five did still have it's flaws, mostly because at that point, Clark's girlfriend Lana started to get really annoying. By season six, pretty much everyone hated her, and she occasionally made the show feel like complete soap opera despite it's very present awesomeness by way of the Phantom Zone and the Justice League. Season seven, for me personally, is when the show really started to find it's groove, with characters like Supergirl, Bizarro, Braniac, and Jimmy Olsen, as well as Lex completing his descent into complete evil. Season 8 saw Lex and Lana both go AWOL and Doomsday was brought in as a villain. But they had Doomsday have a Jekyll-Hyde thing that made you feel really sorry for the guy who the beast resides in. Season 9 was my favorite season, with a younger incarnation Zod and the darker tone it decided take, plus my favorite episode of the entire series, Absolute Justice. Season ten proves to show the true foundations of Clark's becoming Superman with his battles against Darkseid and his relationship with Lois Lane.
As annoying as the meteor freaks were in early seasons (believe me, they were), they ultimately paid off for some pretty cool story arcs in the later seasons. The later seasons are significantly better then the earlier ones, just because it actually starts to feel like Superman. The epicness contained in some episodes were amazing.
As far as characters went, Clark himself originally came off as a bit winy, but he does mature as the show progresses. When he finally stops brooding, you start to root for him. Like I said above, Lex Luthor was truly amazing on this show, but Lana Lang eventually became painful to watch. And then there's Lois Lane; just as Clark and Lex start out as best buds, Lois and Clark start out kind of hating each other, with constant personality clashes and arguments. But, as was obvious, they eventually become pretty nuts about each other. Ma and Pa Kent were done pretty well here too, partly because, for the first time they weren't 65 years old, and the actors did great jobs. They also created a character for the show in Clark's friend Chloe, who pretty much everyone loves, and not just because she is very hot. The most prominent Superhero other then Clark is Green Arrow, portrayed as a charismatic badass who you can't help but like.
In the end, what was good about the show was the cool action, character development, and classic Superman and DC universe mythos (they covered everything, from the JSA to Checkmate to even Superboy). What was bad about it was annoying soapy elements, freak of the weeks episodes, and lackluster special effects (the show operated on a severely limited budget, leading to a lot of action sequences being disappointingly short). When Smallville was good, it was amazing, but it was bad, it burned us. But overall, the good outweighed the bad and led to one of my favorite shows to ever grace the TV screen, and probably the best comic book-based TV show of all time.
So have you seen Smallville? What'd you think? What was your favorite episode? Your favorite season? Comment below, let me know?
And, as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Smallville Season 10 Review
It's time to suit up!
In A Nutshell:
The final season brings us to Clark being brought back from the beyond by Lois, who knows his secret, Oliver is in a very bad spot, and Tess is in a factory of genetically engineered Lex-clones. From there, the season focuses on the arrival of villain Darkseid, hostility towards heroes, the Lex-clones, an alternate universe, and how events in Clark's life, specifically his relationship with Lois, have been shaping him to become the Man of Steel.
The Good:
We got a glimpse of the suit in the last episode of season 9, so Clark has his eyes on the prize most of this season. It's kind of like he's working towards it. A lot of the episodes were very interesting, particularly "Homecoming", which offers an oddly sentimental look at the earlier seasons in a way that'll make even the most jaded of us feel something. We also get paid one last visit from Zod that shows his origins and frankly was awesome. The anti-hero mini-arc of mid-season was really interesting too, showing us, a., how stupid people can be sometimes, and b., what Clark still has to overcome if he wants to become the symbol of hope that is Superman, and it was done in a very entertaining way that even managed to make Aquaman a badass (okay, no, not really, but there were less fish jokes). The mini-arc also led to one episode that I don't want to spoil, but I will say was kind of a homage to the Matrix (the first one, obviously). All of the throwbacks to the previous seasons were really cool and, above all else, they showed us what the point of the last nine season were. And it all leads into the series finale. The series finale was truly great. It wasn't as action-intensive as I'd hoped, but it was really good for what it was, and frankly, it was kind of epic. And the final scene was genuinely perfect. It was classic Superman in every way, and when the music starts playing, there is no way you can't smile.
The Bad:
The season gets off to a bit of a rough start, with the a handful of the first ten episodes being pretty weak. Chloe was largely absent from the season, which was a tad disappointing. And then you've got Darkseid; don't get me wrong, Darkseid was a great villain, but you only see him a couple of times, his minions could've been done better, and he and Clark never had an actual fight. Clark fought Zod. Clark fought Doomsday even if it only was like three punches. But he never really did fight Darkseid, which was very disappointing. The only other beef I had was in the series finale; after Clark becomes Superman, you never get a good head-to-toe shot of him in the suit. It's always either an extreme close up or too far away to even tell it's him. Don't get me wrong, it was great to see him finally suit up, I just wish we saw the suit as a whole.
Final Rating: 94%
The Good:
We got a glimpse of the suit in the last episode of season 9, so Clark has his eyes on the prize most of this season. It's kind of like he's working towards it. A lot of the episodes were very interesting, particularly "Homecoming", which offers an oddly sentimental look at the earlier seasons in a way that'll make even the most jaded of us feel something. We also get paid one last visit from Zod that shows his origins and frankly was awesome. The anti-hero mini-arc of mid-season was really interesting too, showing us, a., how stupid people can be sometimes, and b., what Clark still has to overcome if he wants to become the symbol of hope that is Superman, and it was done in a very entertaining way that even managed to make Aquaman a badass (okay, no, not really, but there were less fish jokes). The mini-arc also led to one episode that I don't want to spoil, but I will say was kind of a homage to the Matrix (the first one, obviously). All of the throwbacks to the previous seasons were really cool and, above all else, they showed us what the point of the last nine season were. And it all leads into the series finale. The series finale was truly great. It wasn't as action-intensive as I'd hoped, but it was really good for what it was, and frankly, it was kind of epic. And the final scene was genuinely perfect. It was classic Superman in every way, and when the music starts playing, there is no way you can't smile.
The Bad:
The season gets off to a bit of a rough start, with the a handful of the first ten episodes being pretty weak. Chloe was largely absent from the season, which was a tad disappointing. And then you've got Darkseid; don't get me wrong, Darkseid was a great villain, but you only see him a couple of times, his minions could've been done better, and he and Clark never had an actual fight. Clark fought Zod. Clark fought Doomsday even if it only was like three punches. But he never really did fight Darkseid, which was very disappointing. The only other beef I had was in the series finale; after Clark becomes Superman, you never get a good head-to-toe shot of him in the suit. It's always either an extreme close up or too far away to even tell it's him. Don't get me wrong, it was great to see him finally suit up, I just wish we saw the suit as a whole.
Final Rating: 94%
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Battlestar Galactica Series Review
Blah blah blah Sharktopus joke,blah blah Ghost Hunters is fake, blah blah.
I've done reviews for all four seasons of the epic sci fi series, so now it's time to look at the series as a whole. I should say now that I'm not gonna be doing the usual "in a nutshell, the good, the bad" format, nor will I do a final rating, mostly because, for an entire series, that would be a pain in the ass to write, and frankly really stupid. So let's get started.
The Cylons were created by man (yes, they're robots). They rebelled. They evolved. They look and feel human. And they have a plan. Part of that plan involves nuking the crap out of the Twelve Colonies of Humanity in a surprise attack, making the human population go from billions upon billions to about 50,000. Now, the survivors have a ragtag fleet of ships searching for a new home, called Earth, the fabled 13th colony mentioned in their scriptures. The fleet is headed and protected by the Battlestar Galactica, under Cmdr Bill Adama, whose pilots and marines are the only thing standing between the surviving humans and annihilation at the hands of the constantly-chasing Cylons.
The show is one of the most realistic military dramas I've ever seen, which is ironic seeing how they're in space. Seriously, they nail protocol and terminology perfectly, complete with a dark, gritty tone, and it leads into some amazing space battles. The space battles are the icing on the cake for this series; it's awesome to begin with, but then they throw in some of the greatest space battles ever, complete with amazing special effects (don't worry, the ships don't look like Sharktopuses).
The action in the show alone is great, but it's there along side what's a story about people and how they act in one of the most undesirable situations imaginable. You've got great characters here, like dedicated Cmdr Adama, maverick viper pilot Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, daddy-issues ridden pilot Lee "Apollo" Adama, teacher turned president Laura Roslin, and interesting scientist Gaius Baltar (I won't go into detail at the risk of spoilers, but Baltar is probably the most interesting character on the show). These characters, who you genuinely like and root for, are dealing with Cylons, who are probably the most interesting, complex, charismatic, and just plain violent villains to ever grace television (want to tell spoilers but can't).
The political aspects of the show were surprisingly interesting; I hate politics, I honestly do, and I was interested by the various political mini-arcs that every season had.
And then you've got the quest for Earth, aka the theological aspect of the show. If you're insulted by the existence of religion, don't bother watching this show, because faith and God are very much at work here. The quest for Earth was one of the most compelling parts of the show, partly because for the first few seasons you wonder when this takes place in Earth's chronology so you can't help think "what's gonna happen when they actually get there", and partly because it's just damned interesting. And it all ends with a final scene that, if you're like me, will make you go "wait... OH MY GOD!".
As far as the seasons themselves went, I'll break it down like this:
Season 1/the mini-series: starts off a bit slow, but when stuff starts going down, it gets amazing and you do not want to stop watching, save for one somewhat painful episode.
Season 2: Starts off absolutely incredible, then declines a bit in quality after episode 12, mostly because of a few pointless filler episodes. Then it ends pretty spectacularly.
Season 3: The first 13 episodes are amazing beyond belief and set the bar way up there, then they do a few fillers that frankly really sucked, and then, once again, it ends perfectly.
Season 4: Very inconsistent, with amazing highs met with crushing lows. Fortunately, it all concludes well with one of the best series finales ever.
Overall, BSG is one of the best sci fi shows I personally have ever seen, and if you haven't seen, go watch it already!
So have you seen BSG? What'd you think of it? Comment below, let me know!
And, as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
I've done reviews for all four seasons of the epic sci fi series, so now it's time to look at the series as a whole. I should say now that I'm not gonna be doing the usual "in a nutshell, the good, the bad" format, nor will I do a final rating, mostly because, for an entire series, that would be a pain in the ass to write, and frankly really stupid. So let's get started.
The Cylons were created by man (yes, they're robots). They rebelled. They evolved. They look and feel human. And they have a plan. Part of that plan involves nuking the crap out of the Twelve Colonies of Humanity in a surprise attack, making the human population go from billions upon billions to about 50,000. Now, the survivors have a ragtag fleet of ships searching for a new home, called Earth, the fabled 13th colony mentioned in their scriptures. The fleet is headed and protected by the Battlestar Galactica, under Cmdr Bill Adama, whose pilots and marines are the only thing standing between the surviving humans and annihilation at the hands of the constantly-chasing Cylons.
The show is one of the most realistic military dramas I've ever seen, which is ironic seeing how they're in space. Seriously, they nail protocol and terminology perfectly, complete with a dark, gritty tone, and it leads into some amazing space battles. The space battles are the icing on the cake for this series; it's awesome to begin with, but then they throw in some of the greatest space battles ever, complete with amazing special effects (don't worry, the ships don't look like Sharktopuses).
The action in the show alone is great, but it's there along side what's a story about people and how they act in one of the most undesirable situations imaginable. You've got great characters here, like dedicated Cmdr Adama, maverick viper pilot Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, daddy-issues ridden pilot Lee "Apollo" Adama, teacher turned president Laura Roslin, and interesting scientist Gaius Baltar (I won't go into detail at the risk of spoilers, but Baltar is probably the most interesting character on the show). These characters, who you genuinely like and root for, are dealing with Cylons, who are probably the most interesting, complex, charismatic, and just plain violent villains to ever grace television (want to tell spoilers but can't).
The political aspects of the show were surprisingly interesting; I hate politics, I honestly do, and I was interested by the various political mini-arcs that every season had.
And then you've got the quest for Earth, aka the theological aspect of the show. If you're insulted by the existence of religion, don't bother watching this show, because faith and God are very much at work here. The quest for Earth was one of the most compelling parts of the show, partly because for the first few seasons you wonder when this takes place in Earth's chronology so you can't help think "what's gonna happen when they actually get there", and partly because it's just damned interesting. And it all ends with a final scene that, if you're like me, will make you go "wait... OH MY GOD!".
As far as the seasons themselves went, I'll break it down like this:
Season 1/the mini-series: starts off a bit slow, but when stuff starts going down, it gets amazing and you do not want to stop watching, save for one somewhat painful episode.
Season 2: Starts off absolutely incredible, then declines a bit in quality after episode 12, mostly because of a few pointless filler episodes. Then it ends pretty spectacularly.
Season 3: The first 13 episodes are amazing beyond belief and set the bar way up there, then they do a few fillers that frankly really sucked, and then, once again, it ends perfectly.
Season 4: Very inconsistent, with amazing highs met with crushing lows. Fortunately, it all concludes well with one of the best series finales ever.
Overall, BSG is one of the best sci fi shows I personally have ever seen, and if you haven't seen, go watch it already!
So have you seen BSG? What'd you think of it? Comment below, let me know!
And, as always, be sure to subscribe, check out my other posts, all that good stuff!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Review
You know what, I'm way to lazy to come up with another SyFy channel joke, so lets just get to the review already.
In A Nutshell:
Starbuck is back from the dead, Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, and Vicki are all Cylons, Lee has to decided to become a politician, and Baltar is leading a cult. At least that's how it is at the start of the season, and things progress from there. It all ties in to the quest for Earth, which involves forming some uneasy alliances and doing a lot of things most of the crew usually wouldn't. Along the way, we get some damned answers, but, obviously, are still left hanging on a few counts.
The Good:
The season starts off with a bang in the premier, with plenty of mysteries and explosions to go around. The mysteries were pretty much the backbone of the season, when you get down to it, especially with Starbuck and the Final Five, and for the most part, I liked that, especially when it adds up to the pretty mind-bending twist mid-season. I also thought that Baltar's story line and transformation into, gasp, an actual pretty good guy, was interesting. Baltar is one of those characters who you love yet hate at the same time, but this season, you genuinely like him a little bit. There was also a political mini-arc mid-season that was absolutely one of the highlights, bringing the show back to action-packed drama that made us like it in the first place. And then you've got the series finale; it's polarizing, I get that, but I'm on the end that liked it. I won't spoil it, but it's 90 minutes long, and the first hour or so is this frakking epic battle, and then the last half of it is resolution that involves deus ex machina, or act of God. I actually think that, when done well, acts of God can really good, which is what it was here. Some of you will want a more tangible conclusion then what was on the table, some will get confused, and some of you are so pissed of by the very existence of religion that you'll want to vomit. But, some of you will, like me, think that what they did was kind of epic and makes you look at the series as a whole in completely different way. And of course, the final scene, which I personally thought couldn't have been a better combo of awesome and mind-bend.
The Bad:
I won't lie, this season was VERY inconsistent. It starts out good, and then it's bad, and then it's good, and then it's bad again, and then it ends good. The lows were honestly pretty crushing, with some episodes feeling like a soap opera, others feeling like answers to overarching questions that Ron Moore wrote on a crumpled-up piece of paper and unceremoniously threw at a TV, and others being just poorly written. The inconsistency led to watching it feel like a chore more then once. I had my finger on fast forward quite a bit. Another thing was, some of the directions they decided to take characters were, at times, hard to watch.
Final Rating: 86%
In A Nutshell:
Starbuck is back from the dead, Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, and Vicki are all Cylons, Lee has to decided to become a politician, and Baltar is leading a cult. At least that's how it is at the start of the season, and things progress from there. It all ties in to the quest for Earth, which involves forming some uneasy alliances and doing a lot of things most of the crew usually wouldn't. Along the way, we get some damned answers, but, obviously, are still left hanging on a few counts.
The Good:
The season starts off with a bang in the premier, with plenty of mysteries and explosions to go around. The mysteries were pretty much the backbone of the season, when you get down to it, especially with Starbuck and the Final Five, and for the most part, I liked that, especially when it adds up to the pretty mind-bending twist mid-season. I also thought that Baltar's story line and transformation into, gasp, an actual pretty good guy, was interesting. Baltar is one of those characters who you love yet hate at the same time, but this season, you genuinely like him a little bit. There was also a political mini-arc mid-season that was absolutely one of the highlights, bringing the show back to action-packed drama that made us like it in the first place. And then you've got the series finale; it's polarizing, I get that, but I'm on the end that liked it. I won't spoil it, but it's 90 minutes long, and the first hour or so is this frakking epic battle, and then the last half of it is resolution that involves deus ex machina, or act of God. I actually think that, when done well, acts of God can really good, which is what it was here. Some of you will want a more tangible conclusion then what was on the table, some will get confused, and some of you are so pissed of by the very existence of religion that you'll want to vomit. But, some of you will, like me, think that what they did was kind of epic and makes you look at the series as a whole in completely different way. And of course, the final scene, which I personally thought couldn't have been a better combo of awesome and mind-bend.
The Bad:
I won't lie, this season was VERY inconsistent. It starts out good, and then it's bad, and then it's good, and then it's bad again, and then it ends good. The lows were honestly pretty crushing, with some episodes feeling like a soap opera, others feeling like answers to overarching questions that Ron Moore wrote on a crumpled-up piece of paper and unceremoniously threw at a TV, and others being just poorly written. The inconsistency led to watching it feel like a chore more then once. I had my finger on fast forward quite a bit. Another thing was, some of the directions they decided to take characters were, at times, hard to watch.
Final Rating: 86%
Episode Reviewed: Falling Skies: Love and Other Acts of Courage
After this episode, I couldn't help but remember season 1 when they killed the black guy first. Why does that always happen?
In A Nutshell:
Rick's back. He and Ben are connected the Red-Eyed Skitter (which we'll refer to as RES for the sake of time), which apparently wants to share something with the second Mass, leading to them taking it as a POW. You read that right, BEN wants to cooperate with a Skitter. At the same time, Hal and Maggie go all Mulder and Scully on us while on a recon mission in which we learn what Maggie meant by "the bad kind of cancer", among other things.
The Good:
I'll start by saying this is a step-up from last week. Granted, that's not saying much, but that's how it is. The best part of the episode for me personally was the beginning with Ben (spoilers!). You're left thinking "...da hell?", and you figure it out when Tom interrogate RES, another good part of the episode. We get some answers during the Q&A while still more questions are posed, which is always a good combination, and it was just interesting to watch the two interact. It could've been a larger part of the story, but it was still interesting while it was on screen. As far as the Hal-Maggie part of the story went, it was tad cliched, but the actors have good chemistry, so it wasn't painful to watch or anything. It was actually fairly enjoyable, mostly because these are characters that I usually feel don't get quite enough screen time. And, brace yourself, we get another major character death! That's two so far in a season that's only half over, and three in total, for those of you who are keeping score at home. And yes, I did feel something when (spoilers!) ate it. RIP (Spoilers!).
The Bad:
Like I said before, parts of the Hal-Maggie side of the story were a bit cliched (never a good thing). There was also an interaction between Tom and Weaver at the end of the episode that felt incredibly forced and tacked on for the sake of making the episode over 39 minutes long (also never a good thing). This is a complaint I have with the show as a whole right, but I feel like there's not enough action as there should be. I'm shallow or anything, but I just want more gunfights and stuff like in the season premier. If the Walking Dead has proven anything, it's that you can, for the most part, have a balance between action and character drama (and that you can get away with a lot gore on cable).
Final Rating: 87%
In A Nutshell:
Rick's back. He and Ben are connected the Red-Eyed Skitter (which we'll refer to as RES for the sake of time), which apparently wants to share something with the second Mass, leading to them taking it as a POW. You read that right, BEN wants to cooperate with a Skitter. At the same time, Hal and Maggie go all Mulder and Scully on us while on a recon mission in which we learn what Maggie meant by "the bad kind of cancer", among other things.
The Good:
I'll start by saying this is a step-up from last week. Granted, that's not saying much, but that's how it is. The best part of the episode for me personally was the beginning with Ben (spoilers!). You're left thinking "...da hell?", and you figure it out when Tom interrogate RES, another good part of the episode. We get some answers during the Q&A while still more questions are posed, which is always a good combination, and it was just interesting to watch the two interact. It could've been a larger part of the story, but it was still interesting while it was on screen. As far as the Hal-Maggie part of the story went, it was tad cliched, but the actors have good chemistry, so it wasn't painful to watch or anything. It was actually fairly enjoyable, mostly because these are characters that I usually feel don't get quite enough screen time. And, brace yourself, we get another major character death! That's two so far in a season that's only half over, and three in total, for those of you who are keeping score at home. And yes, I did feel something when (spoilers!) ate it. RIP (Spoilers!).
The Bad:
Like I said before, parts of the Hal-Maggie side of the story were a bit cliched (never a good thing). There was also an interaction between Tom and Weaver at the end of the episode that felt incredibly forced and tacked on for the sake of making the episode over 39 minutes long (also never a good thing). This is a complaint I have with the show as a whole right, but I feel like there's not enough action as there should be. I'm shallow or anything, but I just want more gunfights and stuff like in the season premier. If the Walking Dead has proven anything, it's that you can, for the most part, have a balance between action and character drama (and that you can get away with a lot gore on cable).
Final Rating: 87%
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