Category Archives: Movies / Reviews

Batman VS Superman

Batman v. Superman Dawn of Justice, opened March 25th, 2016 with early showings March 24th. I saw this on the official opening date with a group of comic-geek loving friends. Since the movie was announced, people have been talking about it left and right. Criticism of actors chosen, to storylines, to villains. I was one of those people. I thought this movie would be terrible, and when the reviews started coming out, it seemed as if I was right, at least for my personal taste.

One aspect I did not like was the entire premise of the film with its title being Batman v Superman. They could have gone many different ways but chose to play off the VS. aspect to draw in the crowd. Batman v. Superman! Fight of the century! Etc., etc. Not my cup of tea. Most of the beginning of the film was slower than I would have liked. It took too long for Superman and Batman to come face to face. Yes it helped us see Bruce/Batman’s paranoia something that the character is known for, and see him do some detective work, however there were issues with that, for me. Others loved him but I did not. I had grievances.

My main grievance? Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. As you can see in this photo, Ben is dressed the part, however I did not once forget he was Ben, and not Bruce. For me a successful portrayal of a character, especially a well known character like Bruce Wayne/Batman, the actor has to make you forget who he is, and believe he is who he or she is playing. Affleck did not do as such. For me, he, and the slow start was the worst moments of the film. Plenty of people are now praising Affleck, while criticizing the script, and the portrayal of Superman.

Henry Cavil plays Superman very well, and convincingly so. I see Superman / Clark, not Henry.  However Zack Snyder made some crucial mistakes not only in this film, but in Man of Steel which furthers into this one. Snyder seems to destroy the Jonathan and Martha Kent as we know them, and turns them into selfish people. Martha telling Clark that “he doesn’t owe them (society) anything.” And in Man of Steel having Jonathan express that he never wanted Clark to be Superman. That is not who Jonathan and Martha were. In the film we see Clark struggle with how society is viewing him, both as a god, and as an unwelcomed alien that people want to see controlled and punished. While we saw his moral code destroyed in Man of Steel when he killed Zod, it is of no surprise that he is struggling with right and wrong, and what he should or should not do for mankind. A situation not helped by that of Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Lex Luthor.

Lex Luthor comes across as maniacal, and psychotic. Which yes one could argue Lex was crazy, however not in the way Eisenberg portrays him. Lex was smart, he managed to continue his evil plans and be a thorn in Superman’s side in many incarnations of Lex Luthor. Not seemingly be Superman’s Joker. Which is what he seemed like to me. One thing that I caught was the fact he mentioned his father’s name was on the building, not his. The building is LexCorp. Lex Luther’s father was not named Lex, but Lionel Luther and in another storyline Jules. So this makes me wonder if this is not the Lex we are familiar with (there may be a comic version of this I am not aware of), but perhaps a Jr. We will have to wait and see. Just like we will wait and see Wonder Woman which I think Gal Gadot pulled off wonderfully.

Gal Gadot seemed to steal the screen from the boys whenever she was on. There are many doubts going around the interwebs on the Wonder Woman movie, however I am looking forward to it.

The boys have had all the fun for too long.

Does this film have issues? Yes. Could this have been better with someone more familiar with the characters directing other than Snyder? Yes. Could it have been better with someone else as Bruce/Batman? For me, yes, very much so. Should you still go see the film? See how it plays out? Yes. Aside from the issues I think it has, I still enjoyed it for moments here and there. If you are a fan of DC, go see it and give it a shot. Some of you will be disappointed, and some of you will not. You can’t please everyone, so they are focusing on who they can please. The general population, over the comic/character fans. It is what it is.

Side note: Did you catch Jimmy? How about Robin? Damn Snyder.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

bfgw2My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 bares many resemblances to its predecessors, even the poster has the same format (see below). The movie debuted 14 years after the original, which for any movie, a sequel that far and in-between a huge red flag. I saw the original and enjoyed it, which made my decision going to see the sequel easy. The original centers around a Toula Portokalos a daughter in a large Greek family, a large loud in your business Greek family. The sequel however touches on the entire family but also focuses some on Toula and Ian Miller’s (Toula’s husband), Paris Miller. Now just as with Toula, Paris is often told she needs to find a nice Greek boy, so she can have a husband so she can have nice Greek babies. A bit of the same ‘ol bfgwfrom the first with Toula. The sequel may seem repetative if not for the included story line revolving around Toula’s parents Gus and Maria Portokalos who by some mix up were never actually married by the church, causing a rift between the couple because Maria would like to be proposed to again, correctly according to her, while Gus refuses stating he already did that years ago. Drama and laughter ensued. I for one thought that the movie stayed close to the original’s concept, yet still made room for new twists. You cannot watch this film without laughing (well if you do, there may be a certain bone broken in you…). I have not laughed through out an entire movie, as much as I did watching this one in a very long time. I would say give this a shot, for some light, fun laughter.

The Man of Steel (2013) Starring Henry Cavill


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I got home a little over an hour ago from watching the midnight release of The Man of Steel, the new Superman movie starring Henry Cavill. Now from the start, I wasn’t too hyped about seeing this movie, because lets face it, Superman movies never do that good. Unlike DC’s other major hitter, Batman, Superman has fallen short. The most recent to miss hitting the nail on the Head was Bryan Singer and Brandon Roth’s 2006 Superman Returns which supposedly takes place after the last Christopher Reeves Superman movie. That was a mistake from the start… trying to continue a storyline that began in the 70’s!

Needless to say that the 2006 film fell short on many different areas. I mean, am I the only one who wanted to pull Roth’s little curl? It was annoying! But aside from that, Roth’s Superman didn’t embody what Superman should.

This years film with Cavill hit the mark from the start in terms of casting the Man of Steel. Once clean and shaven, Cavill really embodies Superman, and in a way is a nice similarity to Christopher Reeve’s Superman. Cavill LOOKS like Superman, or as he should in my head.

The suit… I still wish they’d leave it red and stop with this use of Maroon, however it was MUCH better than Roth’s.

While many of us Smallville fan’s would have loved to see Tom Welling, those of us who grew up in the 90s, grew up with Tom Welling as our Clark Kent. We can’t say he was our Superman because until the end, he didn’t don the suit. He was through and through our Clark, but I think Henry Cavill could take that place, he can be this generations Superman, as Reeve’s was the 70’s and 80’s, and Dean cain was the Superman/Clark for the 90’s.

This is also the first Superman to show a darker less cheesy Superman, in my opinion. At the end of the film, it really comes though, as he does something that goes against all of Superman’s beliefs. I won’t say what, but you’ll know when you see it. You will also see at times a resemblance between Welling and Cavill when Cavill is dressed as Clark, especially when he don’s the glasses.

If film history Batman has always done better at the box office, while Superman did better on TV, starting with the 1950’s George Reeve’s TV Show. We’ve not had a Batman TV show in a long time, and I think we should get it. We’re getting a SHIELD TV show, why not Batman? Why not see Bruce as a younge 20’s guy battling with himself being the playboy and the man in the cape? We saw this with a young Dean Cain on Lois & Clark. We got to see Clark & Superman in tandem here, unlike in Smallville, which we only had Clark.

But back to Superman…

The special effects in this film are also top notch. The way he moves, fly’s, and everything else, was done very nice. Unlike some of the effects in the 2006 film. To be honest Smallville had much better effects than the 2006 film as well. With a Superman movie there are four major things that can go wrong, casting Superman, casting Lois, the Suit, and the special effects. I think The Man of Steel did well in all four. However it did take me watching the film to accept the suit.

In this film, we get I think for once, what we should in a Superman movie in current time. There’s no having to suspend belief… after the initial, he’s an alien… ha! It’s set in realistic time, much as The Avengers and Iron Man are. In terms of that if IT WAS too happen, we could believe it. Unlike the 90’s Batman movies with a penguin… and such. We get a Lois who isn’t over the top, or desperate. We don’t get a stupid story line that tries to continue after 20 or so years. We get a fresh start, what Singer and Roth’s should have been, but wasn’t. I also feel that while there has always been a stigma with playing Superman, which some say are reasons Welling had in his contract no tights, no flights. I do not think Cavill will fall to this Hollywood  curse. I don’t think it will hurt his career, or typecast him. He plays it in such a way that, well, it works really, really well.

If you’re on the fence about seeing this, go ahead. I don’t think you will be disappointed. Especially with the young Clark’s as they were cast I think, also very well.

For now, this is all I will say until people have a chance to see it. Then I’ll go into more on what happen’s and the plot. So go on and see it!

Breaking Dawn 2 DVD/BluRay Release and #Spottedbreakingdawn

So this week I’ve been to 2 #spottedbreakingdawn events. You find them projecting onto a building the promo for the BD2 DVD/BluRay release and snap a pic and tweet it with the hash tag #spottedbreakingdawn and hope to win a prize… sadly I’ve not won anything. I’m heading out tonight to another one for another chance. Wish me luck.

I am also going to a midnight release party for the DVD/BluRay. While I’d like to get the Extended Version of BD1 AND BD2 I can’t… I rather get Targets with the extra 52 minutes of Extras. Love Extras!

Can’t wait to get it. But also a bit sad, this is the last Twilight related thing to go to… though I’ve never been to any cons and such for it as they were always too far and my ass is always broke… school, work, bills, *sigh* Anyways, just wanted to post about this, its been a while since I’ve posted anything.

Have fun any Twilighters who read this!

That time of year again? Really?

Well yeah so lets even forget about my New Years resolution to blog more… I try, I swear… but oh well, real life is a pain, work, school, life… eh… whatever.

Anyways, I cannot believe we’re at Christmas again… seriously… it don’t even feel like Christmas time… didn’t feel like Thanksgiving either. Odd, this year it just don’t feel like the “holidays.” Maybe cause the world is ending in a week? Ha. At least according to people and the Mayan Calendar…

BUT I’ll leave that to all the conspiracy theorists, and such.

What have I been up to?

Well I saw Breaking Dawn pt. 2… INSANE. The end battle had people screaming, sighing, gasping, almost passing out. I saw the Marathon with my sisters, and my sister’s guy. It was a very long day, I took a nap during New Moon AFTER Edward left, and made sure they woke me up before Edward came back on screen.. yeah.. and? Team Edward all the way.

It’s hard knowing that it’s over… I mean no more Twilight… no more Harry Potter… I mean geez thats like 10-11 years of having some sort of franchise to always look forward to. Now its gone… nothing.. oh wait! I got Fast and The Furious franchise left!!! YAY!!! Paul Walker and Vin Diesel make a awesome team.

Anyways, I am thinking of starting to write again. Not sure, we’ll see. I’ve been semi-inspired, or semi-lit on fire regarding my passion for writing. I’ve been reading  a lot of Twilight Fanfic to get me through the denial of no more Twilight movies. It’s gonna be hard.

I’ve read so many, but right now my favorite is written by SexyLexiCullen and you can find it here —> Quiet Storm (pt.1), and here —> Weather the Storm (pt.2), and the curent (last? I hope not!) Riders on the Storm <— there. The series is referred to as the “Storm Series.” It’s a Mobward fic, meaning it’s Edward and Bella in the mob… well Edward in the mob… that’s all I will say. The mob? You are thinking I’m out of my mind right? Honestly I had never read Twilight fanfic, hadn’t read any Fanfic in a long, long, looooong time but I decided why not. They of course are human, everyone, yes even the Cullen’s in this fic. It really is a great series. Give it a shot if it don’t sound like your thing, but ask yourself, guns, Edward, other Cullens, Money, cars, etc. etc. what is there not to like?

Well, I guess that is about it for now. I hope to keep up blogging more, but I know yeah I’ve said that before too. Oh well, nothing more I can do but to try and try I will.

Now if you haven’t seen Breaking Dawn pt. 2 then get the hell of the computer and go see it now!

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

titleoddlife Well Wed. evening I went to see a new movie opening that day, “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.” I had seen a preview for this movie months ago, maybe even a year ago if that long, it seemed that long at least. I have to say it was everything I hoped it was, and sadly everything I thought it would be. What? Well let me explain, but first off if you’ve not seen this and plan to do so STOP READING NOW. You have been warned!

timgreenredcarpetThe film stars Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton and most importantly CJ Adams a fairly newcomer to the silver screen, previously in Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carell. I have not seen Dan in Real Life so I had not seen Adams in a film before and I must say that  this little boy is not only adorable but also a talented child actor. I can only hope he goes the way of Neil Patrick Harris (successful), and not the way of poor Macaulay Culkin (ripped to shreds). Adams plays a little boy who grows from out of his “parents” garden after they bury a box containing pieces of notepad paper with ideas of what their child would have been liked after they were told that they would never be able to have a child after going into debt trying all kinds of fertility treatments. Heartbroken Garner and Edgerton’s characters grieve for the child they would never have.

Later that evening a freak rainstorm only above their home… see the film you’ll understand… Timothy miraculously rises out of the muddy garden… with leaves growing out of his legs. Of course Garner and Edgerton are blind sided to say the least and at the same time incredibly excited and happy. We get to watch the two new parents grow close with Timothy, at times apart with themselves, and how to be parents and deal with their own family issues. Let me tell you, those issues and their family members are not a walk in the park… unless its a park with dead trees and 110+ degree weather. We also get to see Timothy try and be a “normal” boy in a not so normal situation… we also learn that he has a secret, what that is I will let you find out but it is and was painfully obvious to me before I went in to see this and made iron clad within the first few minutes of the film.

I am not one who usually enjoys a Jennifer Garner film but in this case I thoroughly enjoyed her performance as well as Edgerton’s performance. However it must be said and has to be clear to everyone that the star of this film is Adams. The young actor is smart, has good timing, great facial expressions, and a bright smile that reminds you of a young Haley Joel Osment, or a young Macaulay Culkin (pre-issues). The film is a heart warming and some would say sappy film but I say it is what it is, a heart warming endearing film that is a true family film that everyone can enjoy and I actually mean that… you won’t get any false or sound bite lines here.

So do yourself a favor and go and see this film, take your kids (old enough to sit through a film please, I had to deal with someone’s crying baby…) and make it a family night out. Or if you like make it a escape from your everyday hectic life as I did and left the kids home (niece and nephews). oddlifestill

The Dark Knight Rises: The Film; the Tragedy

220px-Dark_knight_rises_poster I wanted to write about The Dark Knight Rises as soon as I left the theater after the midnight showing I saw part of the Marathon I went to, all 3 films in a row however I was very tired and went to bed intending on writing about it when I awoke. That was not the case. When I awoke the next day the first thing my mother told me was if I had heard about the shooting in Aurora Colorado. She explained to me that someone had dressed up all in black armor of some sort and shot up a movie theater killing and injuring many people. My first thoughts were, no that’s not right, it must be some sort of joke. I mean who would do that? Who would go to the one place that I feel at ease at the most, the one place I enjoy going to over anywhere else? That pondered in my head as I went back to bed (I had only been a sleep a couple of hours and needed more rest).

When I woke up again and for the day I turned on the news as the shooting was on some channel at least every hour of the day, at least it seemed that way. I began to hear reports, stories from people in the theater who got out alive and ok (as ok as one could be after being in that position). I felt so bad for those people, for the people who died, for those hurt, and for the families of everyone suffering through this tragedy. After my feelings of sadness however I became angry. Angry someone would do this, someone would kill so many innocent people and hurt so many others at a movie theater of all places. Your not suppose to be scared or wonder “will I get shot today if I go to the movies?” I adore going to the movies, to see the films, to be introduced to characters and other worlds for 90+ minutes. How dare someone make midnight showings something you have to second guess now because of fear, because of unknowing-ness. Unknowing if you will be safe.

heath_ledger_joker After that I then felt as a fan disappointed in the way that the film was being negatively affected. Don’t get me wrong, now this is far below my feelings of sadness and sorrow for what happened but I also could not ignore what it would mean for the film. The last Batman film, The Dark Knight came out in 2008 and that was impacted by the death of a great actor; Heath Ledger. His death left a dark cloud over the film and it was hard to watch knowing he was gone. Now 4-5 years later we were going to have another Batman film, another turn to blow everyone out of the water and it would have done that had it not been for this piece of trash James Holmes. This man took away the innocence that we all have in each of us, the child inside when we go see a movie we are thrilled to go watch. When you step into a theater you can be that 12 year old kid again, believing in magic, in fantasy, in anything… now this man has tarnished that. He’s made people want to even go as far as suing the studio Warner Bros. for producing a film that was “to violent.” Let me point out one crucial hard but true fact here; no one was forced to go see this film, people chose to see this film because they too were thrilled and excited to see this. You can’t blame a studio for producing a movie, a movie that you wanted to go see yourself and had been anticipating because of some piece of garbage did what he did. Go after him, and I believe the theater itself. Why the theater? It should have had alarms on those exit doors, plain and simple. Had they been set with an alarm the shooter Holmes would not have been able to leave it propped open. In the Harkins theater I visit, the theater that is my movie home has workers come in and count the people, check the doors to make sure they are closed, and such. Did the theater in Aurora not have these policies in place?

I hope the victims some day can recover from this and return to the theater without fear, without second guessing, I hope anyone in the world affected by this can allow themselves to not be yet another victim of this murderer.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2 Countdown

Well its the last week of the countdown to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie 7 pt2. To see this movie is gonna be insane, I can already see the lines for this in my head, the theater by house that I always see movies at is already sold out of the midnight showing. I usually buy my tickets for major movies like this in advance but this time I had issues, sick, lack of sleep, etc. I did not get my tickets early when I wanted. I yesterday, thinking one week was still plenty advance but no… they were in fact SOLD OUT.. unless the guy behind the counter did not know what he was talking about because he didn’t seem like he did…. anyways I called the next closest theater that I like and they still had some seats… so although I had just got off a 10 hour shift, had only 3  hours of sleep that night I drove there on the freeway (which is new to me since I just started to drive a couple of months ago), and rushed over. TOOK ME 20+ minutes to part but whatever… I GOT MY TICKETS. I got 3, one for a friend, my sister, and myself.

This last movie marks the end of an era, litteraly. Sure many people laugh at the name “Harry Potter” but its mostly those who never even looked at what HP really is. It’s a universe, its a story like no other ever told. J.K. hit gold when she created this on that train she sat on one day. Could she, or anyone ever imagine that her books would one day end up with their own theme park? No movie ever has had that happen no matter how big the name, the characters, etc. Perhaps a ride named after them like oh so many others, nothing special.. but a entire theme park, an entire world based on them… no.. only Harry Potter. It’s gonna be hard to watch knowing this is it, this is the end, there is no new tale of Harry left to be told… unless J.K. comes to her senses, this is goodbye to Harry, Ron, Hermoine, and Hogwarts.

 

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, + new 2011 Harkins Loyalty cups.

I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows today after work. I only slept about 2 hours a half last night and I was really really tired after work but I really wanted to see this. I am 100% glad that I went. It was brilliant, but damn J.K. Rowling, has she no heart?? Read further at your own risk… spoiler warning!

Show Spoiler ▼

Well now, moving along… if you live in an area that has a Harkins Theater, you would see the new 2011 souvenir cups are out, if you are not familiar with them, these cups cost about $4.75 at purchase, however all year long you can get it refilled for just $1. If you go often, this cup pays for itself time and time again. I was very surprise that they finally came out with a decent design! The last some years the design has been horrible. I do not know who gets to design these cups, (I’d love to design one!) but as I said, the last few years… many years… its been coming up short. This year they came out with a sort of anime look, which I think is great. Its cute and they have matching re-loadable gift cards too.

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