Captain America vs Pearl Jam

Yes - movie time again. Not like you really need to read my reviews, because you've probably already seen these films anyway... I'm usually pretty late with the review and most of my friends have long since seen the movie I'm talking about.

But y'know... the fact of the matter is, you actually do need to read this. My opinion is just so incredibly valuable that you simply have to read what I thought about a movie in order to fully understand it and form your own opinion, right? (Yeah right...)
These particular reviews are pretty important to me, and I'll explain why as I get into them. Let's just say that I was rather anxious to see both movies, and if you know me personally, you'd understand why. If you don't know me personally, you'd probably be better off not knowing me at all... I'm a pretty strange cat.

That, plus I don't need any online stalkers - thanks anyway.

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CAPTAIN AMERICA:

The First Avenger

Just like Green Lantern, Captain America, at least to me, has always been a sort of 'second string' comic book hero. I never really cared much about him. Ease up, Cap fans... before y'all get fixin' to lynch me, hear me out. Yes, he truly was one of the first Marvel Comics characters to see the light of day, having been around since, what, the 30s? 40s? And yes, he is definitely a major player in the Marvel Universe and is involved in every major event - the Marvel Civil War, the Secret Wars, key member of the Avengers... yadda yadda... But he ain't no Spider-Man, or Hulk, or even Wolverine. In fact, for a superhero, he's not really all that 'super'. Dude got some skills, granted, but he can't shoot webs or fly or lift a 747. I have actually found most Captain America comics to be quite dull to read compared to the rest of the Marvel line. And his costume, even in the comics, has always looked pretty silly to me.

Still, being such a huge Marvel fan, he's always been around whether I liked it or not, and I know stuff about him even without really wanting to. I felt a little bit obligated to see this movie. Marvel has rarely let me down for movies before (ok, there's a few stinkers in their collection) and given the quality of the movie adaptation of Thor, it couldn't be all that bad. I knew it would be another lead-in to The Avengers, which by now I truly cannot wait to see. This movie is like the last piece of the puzzle that we need to set up the main event. I figured that Captain America:The First Avenger would be okay and I could suffer through it just because... but I actually really enjoyed it, even more so than the aforementioned film about the fellow with the ring and the green spandex.

The movie was exciting, to be sure, full of action and cool stunt and fx sequences - even though it did lack some of the superheroey pizazz of some of the previous Marvel movies. (Did I spell pizazz right, Stan?) The Red Skull, played by Hugo (Elrond) Weaving, was a pretty neat villain - kind of like a juiced-up Uber-Nazi, but supposedly even more evil than that square-moustached guy. Of course, little scrawny Steve Rogers, recently juiced-up as well on the super-secret Super Soldier Serum, is the only one who can stop the Red Skull from succeeding in his insidious plot to blow up everything. There's a lot of acrobatic fighting, plenty of gun play and bombs going off, and enough shield-slinging action to keep even the most die hard Cap fan satisfied.

And I have to admit that I kind of like how they reworked his costume. It actually doesn't look as dorky as I was dreading. The Red Skull looked rather cool and menacing as well. Overall, the acting was good, and I think Chris Evans did a great job in the title role. Captain America has always seemed pretty square to me; a real goody two-shoes. He still came off that way in the film, but at least we are given good reasons for it all. For one thing, it appears as though Cap remains a virgin until the end of the movie - the 90 Year-old Virgin!

All (lame) jokes aside, you`d like this movie if you`re a fan of comic book movies, Marvel Comics, or action films in general. Not quite as good as Thor, but had a lot going for it and I can say that it was much, much better than I was expecting. Truly enjoyable.

Bring on The Avengers!!

A-

ps - Since I threw out all those links to info on other Marvel Characters, it`s only fair that I do the same for Captain America, since it is his movie after all...

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PEARL JAM TWENTY

What can I say - I LOVE Pearl Jam. Every album, from Ten to Backspacer, is unique and awesome. I am listening to their music right now as I write this. I can't go more than 24 hours without listening to Pearl Jam or I get the shakes. I want the songs Corduroy and Given to Fly to be played at my funeral.

 (Remember that, family. In case you're thinking of planning it out in advance, you should also have The Empire Strikes Back playing on a big screen somewhere, and there should be readings from various issues of The Mighty Thor, Uncanny X-Men and The Lord of the Rings. Oh yeah, and rather than being buried or cremated, I want to be frozen in carbonite and hung on the wall like Han Solo.) 

Anyway, back to Pearl Jam... I knew before I watched it that I was going to LOVE this movie, and of course I did. In my totally biased opinion, I can say that this is the best 'rockumentary' made to date. PJ has always been a little bit of an enigma of a band; not very visible in the media overall, although they've had a bunch of huge hits over the years and a bit of controversy here and there... but it's their subtle masterpieces and humble determination that have always affected me. This movie sheds a good amount of light on the guys that I've heard literally a thousand different songs from in live and studio recordings and loved each and every one, but never really known much about as people. After seeing PJ20 (that's what the cool kids call it), I think I have even more respect for them. Sure, I guess no band is going to let a producer make a film about them and make them look anything but awesome, but I've seen a few rockumentaries (there's that word again) that can't cover up the fact that bands like Guns n' Roses and Motley Crue really are just a bunch of douchebags. All of the members of Pearl Jam just seem to me like a group of ordinary guys who like to play music and are really (really) good at it, and have managed to keep doing it their own way for twenty straight years without being gigantic in-your-face rock stars. With the talent they have, they could be, but they're even better because they are not.

OK, I'm getting pretty preachy about my favorite band, but if you ever want to know the reason why I like PJ so much, just sit down and listen to their music. I highly recommend the albums No Code, Vitalogy and the self-titled Pearl Jam. Or any album, or any song... or you could see this movie to get you started, I guess...

Pearl Jam Twenty is awesome. Pearl Jam is awesome. Cameron Crowe (the guy who made the movie) is awesome for making it. If you want to be awesome too, you'd better see this... then go out and get the entire PJ catalog. You want to be awesome, don't you?

A++

Yeah, you heard me... double plus for extra-extra-awesome.

...and since Captain America got one, Pearl Jam deserves a Wikipedia link too, as well as a link to their official website, pearljam.com.

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So I guess if this truly were some sort of competition between Captain America and Pearl Jam, there's a pretty clear winner. As talented as he is, Cap's just not rock star material...

May the Force be with you...

Green Lantern vs the Psychic Tire

Hopefully, this will not be the only post this month. I'm just throwing this out there to get back into the swing of things. I have a lot more movie reviews on the way, and some news about the Victoria Toy and Hobby Show coming up this weekend...

But more on that later.

Chew on this one for a while... 

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GREEN LANTERN

This movie turned out to be much better than I'd hoped. I enjoyed this at least as much as either of the Iron Man movies, almost as much as Superman Returns, and I definitely thought it was better than the last two Batman films. Still, Green Lantern is no Spider-man... but it's close. I'm not a fan of the GL comic book(s), but I've read a few trade paperbacks from the library and owned a few older issues. He's also appeared - usually as a background character - in many of the DC Comics I've read (which isn't really a lot).

As I've said before, I've always felt DC Comics kind of suck compared to Marvel Comics. For those of you who don`t quite get it,

Spiderman/Hulk/Thor/Iron Man/Captain America = Marvel Comics

and

Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman/Green Lantern/Flash = DC Comics

and

Marvel Comics > DC Comics

Following the above formula, we can thus assume that

Marvel Comics Movies > DC Comics Movies 

This doesn't really 'ring' true for Green Lantern. (Get it? Ring? Ha-ha...) The story is pretty far-fetched of course, and pretty in-depth, but really no more so than Thor. Basically, he's an ordinary guy (Hal Jordan) who was given a mystical ring by a dying alien, with which he can create three-dimensional objects, limited only by his imagination. He also becomes part of an intergalactic peacekeeping force - the Green Lantern Corps, based on the planet Oa, in the center of the universe. With a lot of superhero movies, the whole origin story is usually the more tedious part of the film that we all suffer through in order to get to the really cool parts. In this case, I felt that Hal Jordan's visit to Oa and the unfolding backstory were all the coolest parts. Obviously, they spared no expense when it came to the visual effects in GL, and the settings and battle scenes are amazing.

Ryan Reynolds is well-cast as the title hero, and the supporting cast is all pretty good - at least as good as one could hope for in a film like this. Even though there are a few scenes that may be pretty scary for little ones, I found that this movie was a little more kid-friendly than most comic book adaptations, and it had a positive message with a likable hero. There's a good amount of Hollywood triteness and predictability to it... but if I can forgive Thor for these transgressions, I can certainly forgive Green Lantern.

This film is not for everybody. Not everyone is a comic book/superhero fan. No offense to those of you who aren't - you couldn't help being born that way. If you do enjoy comic book adventures, I think you'd find this film rewarding. Green Lantern may not be the best DC Comics character out there, but this is the best of the DC movies that they've put out in a long time.

***side note**

There is a character in the film, Sinestro, who, in the comics and animated features, ends up betraying the Green Lantern Corps and becoming the main antagonist of the story. I was fully expecting this to happen in this film, but I guess they're waiting for a sequel to pull this off. Not to offer any 'spoilers' or anything like that, but this really shouldn't come as that big of a surprise... I mean, the guy's name is 'Sinestro', and he looks like the Devil in a Green Lantern suit.... The traitor couldn't possibly be him, could it?? If they ever do make a sequel, I'll watch it anyway, even if I know what's going to happen.

Overall, I'd have to rate Green Lantern a worthy

A-

....I guess that means I'm not a DC Hater anymore...

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RUBBER

And now for something completely different...

Rubber has to qualify as being among the strangest movies I've ever seen. I found it listed on Netflix under 'Independent Films' and 'Black Comedy'. Why I started watching it, I couldn't tell you, but it was so weird and strangely compelling that I had to see it through to the end. It's all about a used tire that gains awareness in the Southwestern US desert and goes on a killing spree, apparently using its inherent psychokinetic powers to blow up people (and bunnies) that get in its way. There's not much more to it than that...

You probably won't recognize a single name in the credits (at least I didn't), but everyone in the film does a worthwhile (if not entirely convincing) job of bringing this pointless and bizarre story to life. It's all played for laughs in the end, but along the way, through insightful camera work and minimal dialogue, it actually almost humanizes our silent but deadly anti-hero. Rubber is not ROTFLOL funny, but it is definitely not the same-old same-old you're going to get from Hollywood. Funniest thing about it is the fact that they can actually get away with a 90 minute film about a killer tire...

B-

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May the Force be with you...

An Ignorant Canadian's Guide to Asian Cinema

It's that time again... time for movie reviews. As a rule, I generally avoid the theatre, except for very special occasions (see :Thor Movie Review). I also don't care for very many mainstream movies anymore. I've just had enough of the same old recycled Hollywood crap.... OK, so maybe I still enjoy watching that crap once in awhile, but I don't like to pay $13 a pop to see the latest, greatest load of exploding mega-crap in the theatre, no matter whether it's in 3-D, Digital 3-D, Real D or any other type of D. Don't make me pay $3 extra just so I can experience gunfights, explosions and robots transforming into vehicles right in front of my face. More often than not, at the usual breakneck pace of today's "blockbusters", to me it's all just sensory overload - everything is simply too flashy, noisy, blurry and highly forgettable.

 I like to hang back and listen to the buzz about new movies before seeing them, and I'll almost always wait for the DVD or (even better) Netflix. Even movies that I really want to see, like the final Harry Potter film, Green Lantern and Captain America, well... they kind of get put on the back burner. I guess you could say that movies are not priority for me right now. (I haven't seen any of the previously mentioned films yet, BTW.)

So what does the pickiest movie watcher in North America actually watch? Foreign movies are usually a good bet for me. It just seems to me that they are a lot less predictable and a good deal more enlightening - ie: you can actually see what the rest of the world is like outside of Hollywood's skewed perspective... Even though a lot of overseas film studios may try desperately to emulate the American movie styles and templates, there's a much better chance that you'll actually see something truly original. Don't get me wrong - I don't watch foreign movies because I'm some sort of hoity-toity movie connoisseur...  I rarely (if ever) will watch a movie because it was nominated for or won some sort of Hollywood Pat-on-the-Back Award. (Seriously, who the f**k cares?)  I just want to see something different... and I guess it makes me feel good to want to be different.

OK, so you're tired of listening to me rag on the American film industry... yeah, yeah - I know. Boo-hoo... poor rich American Studio execs.... whose ever going to stand up for them?

I've always gravitated towards Asian cinema, especially Japanese and Chinese. To me, Japan=Godzilla and China=Bruce Lee. Obviously there are a lot more things to be said and remembered about these two countries, but I would never have cared if it weren't for these two movie stars. (Anyone who tells me that Godzilla is not a star deserves a punch in the throat - Bruce Lee style.) It seems I have learned about Asian cultures through badly-dubbed kung-fu and giant monster movies. I have gained awareness of some of the crazy stuff that people have come up with on the other side of the planet. What kind of whacked-out Japanese dude came up with Mothra? What the hell was he smokin'? And who came up with the concept of wire stunts in martial arts movies? I dunno, but it sure looks cool! Of course there's a downside to those cultures too... let's not forget about Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, or Tibet and all that...

I believe someone once said that you can tell a lot about people by the movies they watch (or at least I'm saying it now). Well, go ahead and try to get in my head and try to figure me out...

Good luck with that!

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IP MAN

Ip who? What's an Ip? Actually, it's the guy's name... a real guy - the main character, portrayed by actor and martial arts master Donnie Yen.  The real life Ip Man (or Yip Man) was the man who introduced Bruce Lee to martial arts, specifically the highly-defensive Wing Chun (or Snake/Crane) style, many fundamentals of which Lee later built upon when developing his own Jeet Kune Do (the Way of the Intercepting Fist). In any case, Donnie Yen is spectacular at this form of fighting. Combined with his screen presence, he makes for a very humble, likable hero who rises from oppression to defend the honor of his fellow countrymen.

The film takes place during the Japanese occupation of China in the 1930s. Ip Man is an established Wing Chun master, with his own school and students, and is well-known as a peaceful man who generally avoids conflict and does what is right, even defending local businesses from wandering thugs. When the Japanese arrive and take over, they bully the local populace and force them into servitude. To make matters worse, the Japanese general has a thing for trying to prove that Japanese Karate is superior to Chinese Kung Fu. Many fight scenes later, we inevitably get to see Ip Man whoop his ass big time, Snake/Crane-style. Of course this doesn't like, end the Sino-Japanese war or anything... but the movie still has a relatively happy ending after that.

Ip Man was a huge box office success worldwide, and lives up to all the things that the above poster says. Although it took me awhile to get around to seeing it, I was quite impressed with both the martial arts and the storyline in this film.

Y'all don't mess with the Ip Man.

A

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IP MAN 2
Of course, I had to see the sequel. Having fled his hometown of Foshan, Ip Man relocates to Hong Kong to open up a new martial arts school. There he faces opposition from the resident kung fu masters, several of whom he must duel in order to win the right to move his practice to the city. He gains a small but dedicated group of followers, but also forms a bitter rivalry with the head kung fu boss in town, who has ties with the British Army stationed in Hong Kong.

The main conflict in the movie comes when a western boxing champion comes to the city to try to beat all of the kung fu masters in an exhibition tournament. Ip Man's former rival now turned friend, having grown tired of the foreigners' insolence, fights the Brit boxer and dies in the ring (a la Apollo Creed). This leaves Ip Man as the last hope to once again defend the honor of his fellow Chinese citizens. Needless to say, we get to see him fight in the ring and defeat the champion soundly. It all plays out pretty much like Rocky III, complete with ringside pep talks, training sequences, a concerned but devoted wife and plenty of brutal beatings... only things missing are Mr. T and The Eye of the Tiger.

Just like the first movie, this really doesn't have anything to do with Bruce Lee, but at the very end of the film, a young student arrives at Ip Man's door wanting to learn kung fu, so he can "beat people up". Wonder who that's supposed to be?

I truly enjoyed this movie, almost as much as the first one. If Ip Man 2 weren't so derivative of the Rocky movies, I'd have rated it higher. Regardless, it's exciting and the kung fu is absolutely top-notch.

B+

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CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER

This film is not quite what I was expecting - with Chow Yun Fat in the lead role, you'd expect a great deal of kung fu action. There are only perhaps one or two fight scenes in the movie. Instead of being full of martial arts, Curse of the Golden Flower is more of an epic, historical piece - an almost Shakespearean drama centered around the Royal Court of Emperor Ping. The whole thing takes place in the Forbidden City as the Emperor arrives home from his latest conquests. Full of political intrigue, dark family secrets and covert love affairs, beautiful costumes, spectacular settings and mass battle scenes, this film keeps one watching with interest right until the very end. Although not as immersive as the Japanese masterpiece  Kagemusha, it does provide a revealing look into the bizarre world of Chinese Imperial Court life. Although it's not the kung fu epic I was expecting, I recommend this movie to anyone who (like me) is fascinated with Oriental culture and history.

B

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MONGOL

Some of us may have seen Discovery or History Channel specials about Mongolia and it's unique culture, but I for one have never before seen a full-length feature on the subject. Mongol is the life story of history's most famous Mongol, Genghis Khan (known as Temujin in this film). We follow him from childhood as the son of the reigning Khan, and then to his later life as slave and fugitive... and through his rise to power as the supreme chieftain of the unified Mongol clans. This story couldn't be any more different than Curse of the Golden Flower, even though they are both grand historical Asian epics, and the Mongolian lifestyle contrasts sharply to the grandiose flare of the Chinese Imperial family.

Mongol is actually a Russian-made film, and is truly well-scripted and beautifully filmed on location in and around the Mongolian Steppes. There's lots of battle scenes and a cast of colorful characters. 

B+

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YOJIMBO

Meanwhile, back in Feudal Japan... Yojimbo is a classic samurai film by the legendary Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa. Although not as highly regarded as Seven Samurai, like that film this one also served as an inspiration for classic Western (ie:Cowboy) movies of the 1960s. It's about a masterless samurai (or Ronin) who arrives in a village controlled by warring crime lords who run the local gambling outfits. Each of the two factions try to hire the protagonist as a bodyguard/enforcer to bully the other into submission. The samurai smartly plays both sides against each other, protecting the common people and fulfilling his own interests in the process. I can't really explain much more without telling the whole story, but let's just say that it's violent, exotic, exciting and funny all at the same time.

I am now a firm believer in the great works of Kurosawa, and after awhile, it becomes easy to see why all those American directors stole so many of his ideas...

A-

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GODZILLA'S REVENGE

I have include this film in this post for a few reasons - first of all, I am a huge Godzilla fan. If you don't believe me, go here. Secondly, I noticed that every movie mentioned so far has gotten a positive review. Thirdly, you just can't write an article about Asian Cinema without mentioning Godzilla.

So here it is - my first (and likely only) negative review of a Godzilla movie. (Yeah - I'm amazed too.) Most of Godzilla's Revenge (also known as All Monsters Attack in Japan) is either stock footage from other G films or unused material from earlier projects. It's all slapped together with a wraparound story about a little boy being chased by bad guys who bumps his head and dreams of going to Monster Island, where he meets Godzilla's son Minya (who shrinks to kid-size and speaks bad cartoony English). We get to see Godzilla fight a bunch of cheap-looking monsters, and somehow this allows the boy to deal with his own problems in the real world and save the day.

Of course, all this sounds pretty stupid, and it is. Not that other Godzilla movies aren't full of the same brand of stupidity, but this definitely clocks in as the worst movie in the entire franchise. I wasn't expecting amazing special effects or anything, but the monster suits are so pathetic in this one and the script is so lame that it's pretty obvious that Toho Studios put it together in a matter of weeks - if not days. Avoid this one. If you want to see a good (but still stupid) Godzilla movie, check out the far superior Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah - Giant Monsters All-Out Attack .

D-

 (Lowest rating for a Godzilla movie ever - can't give it an F, since it's still Godzilla)

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I hope you feel a little more enlightened after reading this, and I hope you seek out some of these great Asian films. Subtitle haters beware!! All but one of these films is subtitled, and the one that is dubbed in English should be avoided anyway. I know a lot of folks don't like to read while watching a movie, but you read this, didn't you? What's the big deal?

Whatever type of movies you watch, enjoy -

May the Force be with you...

THOR - movie review

Normally I like to do more than one movie review at a time, but having been a fan of  Marvel Comics, and specifically The Mighty Thor since I was a child, I thought this might deserve its own entry... plus its probably going to be pretty long, and I don't want y'all falling asleep on me...

THOR



I'll admit I was worried about how the movie studios would pull this off. Marvel Comics has built up such an incredibly rich backstory for this character that it seemed literally impossible to cover everything in one film. With comic books, they had the luxury of splitting the story into countless issues and adding and changing stuff wherever they saw fit; here they had to throw it all at us in one shot and hope for the best, as well as try to keep us entertained with action, humour and a hint of romance (as we expect in all Hollywood films). With THOR, they have succeeded - in spades.

Of course we all know by now that Thor (God of Thunder), Loki (God of Mischief), Odin (the All-Father), etc. are all figures from Norse (Viking) Mythology. Many of us know this simply because we've read the comic books, and are familiar with things like Mjolnir (Thor's Hammer), Bifrost (the Rainbow Bridge), Asgard (home of the Gods) and Jotunheim (home of the Frost Giants). Who says ya can't learn nuthin' from comic books? I think the movie did a fine job of covering these somewhat fantastical concepts without dumbing it down for the layman (ie; non-comic book fan). Going into this film as a self-professed comic book scholar, I was pleasantly surprised by their coverage of the extensive source material while still delivering a top-notch fantasy/action movie.

Marvel studios have built a rich screen mythology of its own with its big screen adaptation of comic book heroes and concepts. We all know about The Avengers, which they've been alluding to for years now. A few years back when I first heard about this, I was skeptical, but after witnessing the increasingly good quality of other Marvel films, I'm sure its going to be great. I love the fact that we get little cameos from iconic comic characters in every film so far - Nick Fury, Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye), Sam Stearns (the Leader, from the Incredible Hulk film and comics), the Black Widow (in Iron Man 2), etc. etc. etc.... One of the coolest things about watching comic book-based movies is these little references that only us 'real fans' would recognize. THOR is full of those as well.

Getting back to the actual film at hand, I think that the writers did a great job of working (or rather, re-working) all of the characters and concepts from the comic into the film without making it too cheesy. There's a few changes, like the absence of Donald Blake (more commonly known as the mortal identity of Thor), the fact that Jane Foster is a physicist instead of a nurse, and how the Asgardians were portrayed as a little more 'extraterrestrial' and a little less 'divine'... these are all just petty details... garnish if you will. The real entree here is the action, and we get lots of it, starting about 10 minutes into the film with a hammer-slinging, dimension-spanning, giant-smashing expedition to Jotunheim, and then of course much later as Thor and his fellow Asgardians find themselves battling the Destroyer (the indestructible construct of Odin, manipulated by the treacherous Loki). There's also a good helping of humor in the movie as well - mostly in the form of Thor getting whacked in the head as he walks among mortals and tries to cope with the loss of his powers... a little more slapstick than I was expecting, but it worked rather well for me...

One difference that was notable for me was the fact that the Thunder God only wore his trademark winged helmet for about 5 seconds in the film. Not a big deal, because it actually is pretty dorky-looking. Thor himself also spouted off a lot less of the "thees" and "thous" and other examples of the somewhat florid speech patterns that one sees in the comic books. I guess its enough of a stretch to get your average (non-comic geek) moviegoers to accept the Norse God of Thunder walking amongst us mere mortals - we don't want to scare them all away with a bunch of ridiculous sayings, like "I say thee, Nay!" and "by Odin's beard!" and whatnot. I'm happy that they got away with as much as they did...

Overall, this is a great film. To me, this ranks up there with the best of the Marvel Comics movies, like Spider-man and even enters into the greatness of Lord of the Rings and (dare I say) Star Wars territory... This film makes me really wish I hadn't sold off 80% of my collection of The Mighty Thor comics. I did so just before the movie came out, just in case it sucked and no one wanted them after it came out. Turns out I made a huge mistake! With the apparent success of the film, I'm sure I could have doubled my money at this point! Damn! Curse thee, Marvel Studios!!  I'll hold no grudges, however... it really is a great film.

As impressed as I was with it, I can do no less than give THOR a resounding  A+

Choke on that, non-believers!!

...but anyway,

May the Force be with you...

Fist of the Samurai Schmuck

Once again, it's been what seems like an eternity between posts for me, but I don't like to put anything out there if I don't really have anything worthy to say. This time around, I'm going to pump out some quick movie reviews to hopefully get things going on this blog again, mostly just to let you know that I'm still here and I'm not dead or anything.

I've told you before that I am an avid Netflix watcher, and all but one of these films were viewed on there. I think I like the ability to instantly watch some obscure movie that I've always wanted to see but never wanted to pay for. Yes, I guess I am paying for it with my monthly subscription fee, but I can always turn off a movie that I don't like and start watching something else. There's enough stuff on there that I feel I could never be stuck without something worth watching.

(Once again, Netflix Execs can contact me and send payment for my advertising services at any time...)

Here are some notable films I've seen recently, good and bad:

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Kagemusha

Excellent film! I was impressed by Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, generally regarded as one of the best movies ever made, but I was equally blown away by Kagemusha, which was made some 26 years later with a much bigger budget. Now I am not by nature an 'artsy-fartsy' film fan, as a lot of fans of Kurosawa seem to be, but something is very cool about watching his movies... like I'm learning something about Japanese culture and history and being entertained at the same time. And who doesn't like watching movies about Samurai?

This film is about a thief who impersonates the Warlord Shingen after his death in order to keep his passing secret. He does it so well and resembles him so strongly that he manages to fool the enemy as well as members of his own household, who are utterly convinced that the imposter is truly Lord Shingen. I guess you could say it's kind of like the same story as Garfield:A Tale of Two Kitties, but there's no talking animals and no happy ending where Garfield and Odie go home with Jennifer Love Hewitt. In fact, it's sort of tragic and not really happy at all...

Visually, this is a very compelling movie - the sets and landscapes are all beautiful,  the costumes are elaborate and the battle scenes are epic and realistic. Kagemusha has the same slow and steady pacing that you'd expect from Akira Kurosawa, but I think this really allows one to feel immersed in the setting and fully absorb the weight of the situations presented in the story. Although I don't think I could accurately describe it to someone who's never seen this type of film before, I highly recommend it to anyone who actually likes to think while they're watching movies. It makes you feel smart for having watched it. There, I said it.

A+

Fist of the North Star

This actually made me feel dumber for having seen it. I honestly don't know what to say about this..... Wow. This is one of the weirdest and stupidest movies I've seen in a long time... The film is set in a post-apocalyptic (ie: Road Warrior -like) world where only the greatest martial artists and the most desperate peasants survive, and only one man can rise against the oppressive regime of the ruling Southern Cross Kung Fu school. So... basically, civilization as we know it depends solely on the 'Fist of the North Star', a guy who looks like the lead singer of a crappy 80's glam-metal band that can make people's heads and inner organs explode just by punching them rapidly and repeatedly in certain deadly pressure points. That's the jist of it. Yeah, there's some other stuff about avenging the dead father and fulfilling the one's destiny, yadda yadda... standard fantasy stuff.... whatever.

This straight-to-video monstrosity is based on what I'm told is a far superior manga epic by the same name. Maybe it's the live action aspect of it that doesn't translate so well... Perhaps it could be the poor acting by the lead characters, who seem to have been cast mostly for their martial arts prowess (Christopher Penn as an evil henchman is by far the best actor in this film, but his kung fu just isn't there...)... Maybe it's the low-budget, ridiculous-looking gore you see throughout the film.... Whatever. Who cares. It sucks. It sucks bad enough to be funny, but it's not funny enough to keep you watching it. I think I only made it about 3/4 of the way through this, so I guess this really isn't a qualified review. I suppose something drastic could have happened in the last 20 minutes to redeem the rest of this Hollywood hack job, but I wasn't about to stick around to find out. I guess you could put this on for a laugh if you're a sucker for terrible movies, but for God's sake, please don't pay for it!

D-

 

Dinner For Schmucks

Yes, it's as funny as you would expect. Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd are great together as usual, and Zach Galfiankis puts in a worthy cameo too. There's way too much crazy stuff in here to talk about, but let's just say that I almost wet myself several times. Being a fan of dioramas and miniature scenery, I'd have to say that one of my favorite things about the movie was Barry(Steve Carrell)'s dead mouse creations. Call me a schmuck if you will, but this is basically the same type of thing that I love to do with toys and action figures instead of mice...

Dinner For Schmucks follows a typical comedy movie template - ie: nice guy does something unusual or not so nice to get ahead in life with hilarious results, girlfriend leaves and/or everyone hates him, makes a big speech/heartfelt apology and everything turns out fine for the protagonist, and all the jerks get their comeuppance in the end. Oh well - we see comedies to laugh, not for the original or realistic plots. This film is full of funny people doing what they do best. Not the best comedy I've seen all year, but it's definitely worth a viewing.

B

Percy Jackson and the Olympians:

The Lightning Thief

I won't say much about this other than to give it the distinction of being a blatant American Harry Potter rip-off. The special effects are neat, and the Greek Mythology aspect is interesting, but the whole thing goes through the motions methodically, predictably and flat. Cool CGI monsters aside, it's all a bunch of blah-blah-blah epic world-saving magic sword/magic amulet/magic map/treasure hunt whatever. Seen it all before, just in different combinations and dressed up in different backgrounds and settings.

"You're a wizard, Harry!"

...no wait...

"You're a Demigod, Percy!"

C

 

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As you can see, I don't like everything, and I don't hate everything either. I have a big backlog of movies I want to review, but so little time to do it. Don't be surprised if it's another month between movie reviews - if in fact that is what you tuned in for.

 

BTW, if you came here looking for zany superhero antics, Everyday Heroes #5  is on the way and will follow shortly. Don't worry - this time around it won't be nearly as long as the last one...

 

Take care for now.

 

May the Force be with you...

Git R Done!

Okay - tons of stuff to blog about today...bear with me.

 First off, my hit counter just went over 1900, and that feels good. Less than 100 to close out the second millenium of posts! (I know it's not proper use of the word, but I love the word millenium - sounds so epic). Thanks again for reading! Normally, I get the most hits from Canada (being my Home and Native Land, eh) but this last month or so has seen far more views from the US. Thanks guys! I just want to say that, even though Americans sometimes get a bad rap on the world stage, I haven't met a single one that I didn't like, and I've been to your country about a bzillion times...I have seen a few on TV that I didn't like though.... Also a special shout out to all the people in other countries who visited. Some noteable ones include Russia, Denmark, Brazil, Netherlands, France and Slovenia. I wish I could say thank you in all your native languages, but that involves a lot of research for which I have no time. Thanks anyway! Unless, of course, you're just phishing or trying to spam me or steal my identity or something....in that case, please don't come back.

Just like everyone else, I found myself extremely busy over the Holidays, and thus haven't had a lot of free time to blog. Regardless, all of the family get-togethers and general good cheer all around me were well worth it. As a special side note to my relatives who came to spend their Holidays here in cold-ass Winnipeg, thanks again. Great seeing y'all! Shaken off that frostbite yet?

So let's take care of business. I want to talk about my toys, my comics and the movies I've seen. Since there's so much in every department, I'm going to skim over some highlights and try to cover as much as possible in one post. Here goes:

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Action Figures

I've got a lot of material for the next installment of Everyday Heroes, but I need a little time to actually put together the layout of the comic. I've already introduced some of the new cast members in my last post, but as a special sneak preview, here's some stuff you can expect to see in upcoming issues:

A new gang in town

Trouble in Springfield

A new Axis of Evil

A Silver Age Reunion

Sokka and Momo in Rehab

I'd show you more of what I'm working on, but that would ruin the suspense. (Trust me, it gets even stupider from here on in...)

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Comics

I've picked up over 200 new books in the last two months, and I've put a few of them up on EBay, but mostly I just want to show off some of my favorites.... such as:

Shogun Warriors #1

Not really a landmark series or a particularly valuable comic (although my copy of #1 is worth a few bucks in its condition), but Shogun Warriors is a comic that I grew up with. Remember those bagged 3-Paks of comics they sold in the 70s? No? Well, I do. That's right, I'm old. This comic was released in one of those but I can't remember what else came in the bag. I do remember that Marvel also packaged the first 3 issues of Star Wars in one of those 3-Paks.... and I think Micronauts too. Anyway, I have a few issues of Shogun Warriors, and I've always loved the series. It features great Herb Trimpe art and has giant robots and monsters in it. Its all good.

Devil Dinosaur #1

Roaring forth from the kooky 70s era of Jack Kirby classics comes Devil Dinosaur - an epic tale of hairy ape-men, raging dinos and alien invaders all struggling for power in a prehistoric world where science and simple logic haven't been invented yet. Pretty silly, but very cool if you can shut your brain off for a while. Not a very long running series (I think it only hit 9 issues or so), but it contains some of Kirby's best art since his Silver Age runs of Fantastic Four and Thor. I remember reading this way back when I was a wee lad - I still get tears in my eyes when I read Devil Dinosaur.

The Tomb of Dracula #16

I have a whole bunch of issues of this series, having only recently discovered it. This particular one has a very cool cover and a neat little story inside. I've always found Dracula to be a cheesy character, and he doesn't get much cheesier than this. Although the art in the series is good, I think it's the writing that really stands out in T.O.D. Sometimes its a little wordy, but this comic reads like no other Marvel title from its time. It doesn't have the rapid pacing of a superhero book, but its laid out like a true horror comic should be - full of great suspense and shocking revelations. Good build of the characters too - even if they all die before the end of the issue. Tomb of Dracula comics are hard to find and are of relatively high value. That being said, I have a whole bunch more issues in the FN to NM range that will be up for sale in upcoming months.

Daredevil #39

This one is up for auction RIGHT NOW! (Or at least until Sun. January 9th 2011 if you're reading this late.) I love the art in these old Daredevil issues - big panels full of colorful action. D.D. kicks ass in this one. I have about a half dozen Silver Age issues that are going to be listed on EBay very soon. #39 is a great example of the conditions that they are in - nice bright cover with little to no flaws and crisp clean pages - nothing below the FN (6.0) range. Keep an eye on my EBay store if you're interested in owning any of them.

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Movies

Despicable Me

Got this for X-Mas, and it turned out to be a little better than I expected. I love Steve Carell's accent in the movie, and Jason Siegel does a pretty good job of the voice over too. Also very touching with Gru's interaction with the three little girls and their bonding by the end. My kids loved it and it made them laugh a lot - good job Universal!

A-

Fubar

Caught this one on Netflix. I'd seen it when it first hit the video store in 2002, but by this time I'd forgotten just how funny it is. I swear I knew two guys exactly like Dean & Terry back in the day, and I even see a little bit of my teen/early 20s self in them, all of which makes it all the more hilarious. If you ever grew up as a 'banger' in Western Canada, you'd relate to this film....and you've probably already seen it and loved it. The whole 'mockumentary' format really works here. I can't wait to see the sequel!

B

Gremlins

Yeah, we've all seen it. I saw it for the first time in the theatre in 1984 and loved it, but grew a little tired of it by the time I'd hit my twenties. It's got all of the expected Spielbergian cuteness, sappiness, product placement, morality lessons and 'kids vs adults' dynamics to it, but it also has a surprising amount of colorful language, violence and goriness for its era and rating. I guess it just goes to show what Hollywood's top filmaker could get away with at the top of his game in the 80s... Just like Back to the Future and The Goonies, Gremlins presents us with a whole bunch of exaggerated one-dimensional characters in the adult roles while playing out all the younger characters as the diverse and intelligent ones in the story. All that aside, Gremlins is still quite a funny and imaginative film.... and we've got it on Blu-Ray, so I have to like it or I'll feel like I wasted the extra money.

...And there aren't too many other movies where you get to see a bunch of puppets smoking and drinking and flopping around like idiots... that is until we get to see The Muppets Take Las Vegas.

B+

Up

Great movie! Worthy of all the awards. Like all Pixar films, it's sad and heartwarming while being exciting and funny all at once. Dug the dog steals the show throughout, and Kevin the bird looks hilarious. Good use of the digital scenery and great detail in the animation. This is a wonderful film for both young and old alike. It really does make you feel good by the time its over. Just a shade less sad than Toy Story 3, but just as funny and entertaining.

A+

(You may have noticed that I don't give a lot of negative reviews for movies on my blog. This is mainly because I'm so picky with movies and have so little time to write about them that only the really noteworthy stuff gets through. I highly recommend you read My Year in Movies if you want to get a more objective opinion on a more diverse selection of movies than you'll find here. That blog belongs to friend of mine who knows a lot more about movies and filmmaking than I do.)

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Okay, I guess that'll do it for today. I think I covered a grat deal of material in just one post. I'll consider it an honor if you've actually read this far... I'm impressed by your stamina. Stay tuned for more soon!!

May the Force be with you...

Stumblin' Through the Flix

If you were hoping for some more zany action figure comic strips this time around, sorry to disappoint you. I do have a life, you know... As much as I love doing stuff like that, it is somewhat time-consuming, and time is a valuable commodity for me, especially during this holiday season. I don't want my blog to become a barren wasteland (though it might already be so intellectually), so I've got to write something. Movie reviews are always a good filler...

My wife just recently set us up with Netflix to play through our Nintendo Wii, and while I don't want to endorse either of these companies too heavily since they're not paying me anything (yet), I have to say that I'm more than happy with it so far. I don't see a lot of newer stuff on there - certainly not as much as you'd see in the local video store - but while browsing, I've stumbled upon a whole boatload of great movies and TV shows that I probably wouldn't see otherwise, unless I was specifically looking for them, which I wouldn't if I had to pay minimum $3 a pop to see them on DVD.

Here are a few of the movies I've seen on Netflix lately. I've also watched a lot of television shows (mostly cartoons), but talking about those would fill another blog post entitrely...


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SEVEN SAMURAI

A lot of people have obviously reviewed this film before me - this is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made. Not my #1 favorite film ever, but it definitely ranks up there among my Top Ten. I just saw it for the first time recently and I'm scolding myself for waiting so long to see it. In case you didn't know, Seven Samurai is also known for being the inspiration for The Magnificent Seven, which is considered to be one of the best Western films of all time. (Unfortunately however, Mag. Seven in turn was the inspiration for Battle Beyond the Stars, arguably one of the worst Science Fiction movies ever made....).

Released way back in 1954, it's a classic storyline, and a great period piece. Seven Samurai also happens to have been produced by Toho Studios, the company that also brought us Gojira (better known to North American audiences as Godzilla, King of the Monsters) that very same year. What I noticed right away was that several of the actors involved in S.S. also appear in the latter as well, and keep re-appearing in many more (awesome) Godzilla films.

I realize that the above picture actually only shows six Samurai, but trust me - there are seven, even though the first guy gets killed relatively early on. The film tells the story of the poor peasants of a small village in feudal Japan who go to the city to seek out the assistance of Samurai to protect them from constant harassment by marauding bandits. Along the way, we meet a whole slew of interesting characters; far too many to mention here. Let's just say its a great 'ensemble cast' all working towards a common goal, a technique later emulated in countless other films to this very day, such as The Dirty Dozen, Magnificent Seven, Armageddon, Oceans Eleven (and Twelve and Thirteen), A Bug's Life, Star Wars, etc, etc....

I can't say enough about this movie. I am by no means a professional movie reviewer, but I think any film critic would agree that Seven Samurai remains to this day one of the greatest and certainly most influential films ever made. Do yourself a favor; turn off that stupid vampire sequel and watch a real  movie.

A+

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MEGASHARK vs GIANT OCTOPUS

OK, so this one is definitely not one of the greatest film ever made. This would perhaps be somewhere near the other end of the spectrum. That being said, I am a giant monster (or Kaiju) movie lover as well as a fan of campy films, so this is right up my alley.

As an intentionally 'so bad its funny' movie, it totally succeeds. The actors appear to be taking it all so seriously, even when spewing out the ridiculous, pseudo-scientific dialogue. The effects are intentionally horrible (the shark eating the Golden Gate Bridge shot is about as realistic-looking as it gets), and the plot makes little to no sense. A lot of shots are recycled over and over in the movie and the sets look like they were all filmed in the same room, just re-arranged. Megashark vs Giant Octopus also stars Deborah "Debbie" Gibson in the lead role. I was never a fan of her music, but I think she did pretty well for this movie. It must be hard to prove yourself as an actor in a film where your acting is supposed to be terrible. Oh, and Lorenzo Lamas. Let's not forget him...

On the flip side, as a giant monster film....... it's waaaayyyy disappointing. There's far too few scenes of the two title creatures, and what there is is hard to make out and mostly looks like two ugly puppets flopping around in the dark, or the lowest of low-grade CGI work... Sure, old Kaiju movies like Godzilla and Gamera look fake too, but at least we get to see a lot more of the monsters. I was expecting just a tad more in this department from MSvsGO.

Megashark vs Giant Octopus was the first movie we watched when we got Netflix. I was just that excited to see it. Overall, I guess it's sort of funny, but not 'monstery' enough for my liking.

C+

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KUNG FU HUSTLE

Now this - this is funny. It's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Looney Tunes. There's a lot of truly amazing martial arts going on here, backed up by some really cool effects, extreme acting and crazy jokes. The action is completely over the top and super-fun. And did I mention that it's funny? ...It's like almost "s**t your pants" funny.

The storyline is pretty far-fetched but cool, all about Kung Fu masters and gangsters in 1940's China. Written and directed by Stephen Chow, this is sort of a follow-up to the hugely successful Shaolin Soccer, which is also "s**t your pants" funny. Personally, I preferred this one, mostly because of the Landlady (pictured above). She's got to be the best charater in this film by far. Since I highly recommend this movie and don't want to give anything away to those who haven't seen it, let's just say that she steals the show. Look at her picture again - you don't f**k with that lady...

The movie loses a bit of steam around the end, but that's only because you were so blown away with awesomeness earlier in the film that the awesome ending loses impact.

I love this movie! If only there were more like it!! It's no Seven Samurai, but it's the second-best movie I've seen on Netflix so far. BTW, Kung Fu Hustle is subtitled, so if you don't like to read while you watch movies or don't like foreign movies at all, then too bad - it's your loss.

Dirty pants aside, it deserves a solid A

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So that's all I got for ya today. Take care and Happy Holidays!!

...and as always,

May the Force be with you...