I'm Having Deja Vu...Or Should I Say Total Recall?

When I first heard that they were remaking Total Recall, I was excited. I figured that with updated effects, mars and all its elements would look amazing and impress a new crowd of people that were not aware of the original (or had forgot).
Was I ever in for a let down....

I'll make it clear now. If you are at all a fan of the original Total Recall, with it's Mars landscapes, artifacts, mutants etc, well this film does not have ANY of that. If you are looking for those things, you will be disappointed.
Mars is mentioned once in this 'remake' but they never go there. Instead, the filmmakers opted to stick to an Earthly locale involving oppressed colonies, robot soldiers and other future technology. While the film LOOKS great and slick and fancy, it's biggest foil, again, is the absence of the Mars related set pieces and plot points.
There are still similarities though. Colin Farrell plays Douglas Quaid, who was the same character played by Schwarzenegger back in the day. Quaid goes to Rekall, a company that implants memories of experiences in your mind, instead of have to actually go do them. When Quaid chooses the fantasy of being a secret agent, little does anyone know it's about to crack open some buried memories of his own.
For fans of the original, you will spot a few 'nods' towards the Arnold classic ("Two Weeks", "You'll Wish You Had Three Hands", etc) but it's not enough to make up for the missing Mars story.
If you've never at all seen the original, I can see how it'd still be enjoyable to watch, but as a big fan of the Arnold version, I really have to recommend not bothering to go see this one. At least not in theaters. Get it on demand later on, but if you want a far better version of this story, check out the original Arnold Schwarzeneggar Total Recall. Though the effects are dated, it's still a great sci fi action flick, and far more enjoyable than this one.

The Dark Knight Rises... But Does It Stay Afloat?

And so Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy comes to an end. With the fate of our dark knight left hanging at the end of the previous film, does his tale end on a high note? Does the trilogy long plot wrap up nicely? Is Alfred still making Bruce's bed? Let's find out.

I'll make this clear right now. From a filmmaking standpoint, this film is great. The cinematography, the editing, pacing, music, and production design are all top notch and reflect the calibre of a Christopher Nolan picture.
The problem is that when you begin to look past all that, the problems start piling up. From the very first scene, we get to hear the voice of Bane from behind the mask. And I have to say that it was incredibly annoying. Yes, this type of mask can be taken more seriously than the classic luchador mask that Bane has always worn, and while Tom Hardy delivers a good performance, the annoyance of it just doesn't go away.
I'll admit that Anne Hathaway makes a decent Selina Kyle. She doesn't compare to the portrayal delivered by Michelle Pfeifer back in the day, but she is certainly a million times better than that awful Halle Berry one a few years ago.
Christian Bale delivers another good Batman/Bruce Wayne like the previous films, and I do not fault him for any of the problems that arise from his character. Those problems stem from the writing. Like previous movies, most of what Bruce/Batman has to do is simply react to what the villains of any given story are doing. He can't do much but serve as the counterweight to their actions, and while it makes sense 'poetically', in a film narrative it just begins to get old. For example, Wolverine is a character who, because of his missing memories, actively goes out into the world to decipher and regain said memories. He doesnt just sit around the X-Mansion waiting for a villain to show up. Batman does too much of exactly that in these films, and I hope that the soon-to-come franchise reboot addresses that.
Yes I just said reboot. But it's still in theaters! You may be thinking to yourself. Yes, well, with the MASSIVE success of the Avengers raking in well over a billion dollars so far in it's release, competitor Warner Bros has decided to do similar with it's own Justice League. Batman is a longtime original member of the League, and Nolan's films do not in anyway allow for the possibility of cross-continuity the way the Avengers/Iron Man/Thor/Captain America/Hulk movies did. So yes, while this 3rd film was in it's final stages of development, they knew fully well that this whole trilogy was about to be rebooted anyway.
I wonder if Nolan was aware of this going into it, and therefore didn't really want to make his third one, because it certainly has that feeling throughout it. The film is far too long, there are major portions that could have been left out and maybe cut almost half the running length, and the twists that occur are either seen a mile away, or others just plain dumb.
The worst thing going for it is the blatant disregard for the source material. I'm not going to fanboy moan and groan to death that things aren't EXACTLY like they are in the comics, that studios need to cater to the non-comic folks out there, but this movie really pushes the limit with that.
Having said all that, there is a fun cameo of a certain character that I'm glad managed to appear in all three films though. That was enjoyable.
If i rated stars, i'd give Dark Knight Rises maybe a 3 out of 5. It's not bad per say, but it definitely does not manage to live up to being the closing chapter of such a saga. As is the case in a lot of trilogies, the third film ended up being a bit of a let down. the first is still the best by quite a lot.
But see it for yourselves. It's still enjoyable and great to watch the large battle scenes. And now I must go, someone has activated the bat signal!

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Does Whatever A Spider Can...except make a movie review, that's my job. My review of The Amazing Spider-Man!

  Going into a viewing of The Amazing Spider-Man, I found myself in a perplexed state of thought. Would it be any good? Was it necessary to reboot the entire franchise? Would it be better than the franchise that came before? Would Andrew Garfield make a decent Parker?
  I got wind of this reboot when I actually got to audition for it, for the part of Peter Parker. I was not aware this was the film I was auditioning for at the time though as the studio was keeping everything hush hush. But it involved a young man talking about being bitten to some girl he was in love with after having dinner with her parents. After the audition, a fellow actor suggested it was 'the new spider-man movie' that was in the works, and lo and behold that's what it turned out to be, The Amazing Spider-Man! (The scenes I read appear in the film almost word for word, which is always an interesting way to see it later on).

So, was it good? Actually yes it is, better than the previous films even. Though the Tobey Maguire trilogy always had it's own charm, I've always had a major problem with how much of a whiner Tobey's Parker was made out to be. Where was the smart ass crime fighter? Where were the great quips and one-liners Spider-Man has always been famous for delivering mid-battle, spotting the ridiculous aspects of his super-enemies? At last, here is a Spider-Man that brings that to the table, and it makes him so much more likable. Andrew Garfield makes a far more effective Peter Parker than Maguire ever did.
Much has been left out of the new franchise thus far as well. Gone are the Daily Bugle and J.J. Jameson, the focus on him being broke, the 'organic mutation' eb shooters, and the incredibly forced horrible chemistry between Maguire and Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane. In her place is the smart and spunky Gwen Stacy, Peter's original love, played very well by Emma Stone. Their chemistry in this film really is great and believable (considering they are a real couple in the real world now, I guess the chemisty was genuine).
Also added to this story is the mystery surrounding Peter's long-missing parents and their connection to Dr Curt Conners, who accidently transforms himself into the classic Spider-Man enemy The Lizard, effectivly becoming the film's villain. While not a lot is revealed yet in this first film, they have certainly set the groundwork. If they follow the lore of the comics at all, it will actually be quite the interesting storyline to follow.
  I would not say this film is as good as The Avengers. If Avengers were a 10, I'd rate this one a 6 or 7. But, while being a little too eager to conform to the current day tween/teen market, it is still quite an enjoyable film, and takes you on a good ride.

"And They Made Us In Their Image....." My thoughts on PROMETHEUS

It's been five months since my last post. It's insane how life can get ahead of you sometimes. Between work, home life and wedding planning, my chances at posting here were few an far between. In the world of writing though, that is not a very good excuse, so for those of you who have been following me (if there are any...), I apologize. But now I'm back baby :)

A few films have been seen since my last posting, but I'll only mention the 2 truly good ones right now, and they have something in common. That something is Joss Whedon...

Whedon wrote and produced a fantastic little horror flick called Cabin in the Woods. This film is nothing like your average slasher flick. in fact, it's entire existence is built upon smashing those stereotypes and sending it all off in unpredictable directions. Oh, and the last 15 minutes of the film are the most enjoyabe out of any horror/slasher/thriller I've seen. EVER.

Directed by Joss Whedon, Avengers is one of the best comic movies ever made considering the titanic work that had to be done to pull it off. And pull it off they did. It's not perfect, but it's damn near close. If you have not seen it yet, DO SO!

OK. Now on to the topic of this review, the film PROMETHEUS.

This post is not a review per say, more like a reflection on my thoughts concerning the story. You want a review? Here it is; great film, confusing ending unless looked at a certain way.

The movie's title refers to the greek myth of Prometheus, the titan who provided fire from the gods to mankind. The gods then punished him for it, but mankind was forever changed from that point on. The name serves not only as the name of the ship in the film, but also as a metaphor for the advancment of man, the point he has reached in this film, and the repercussions of that,
The setup involves discoveries of ancient cave paintings etc from numerous civilizations pointing to a particular star system, information given to us from advanced beings that visited us in ancient times. This plot point parallels real life and the ancient astronaut theory that man was indeed created by an alien race (google Annunaki for all the details). Soon an expedition is set forth to this star system to find said beings. What the explorers find is beyond anything they imagined, and everything they could fear.
Those who remember the Alien movies with Sigourney Weaver will be familiar with parts of this film, for it is actual a 'prequel' of sorts, setting up the path that continues in the original Alien film from 1979.
The famous 'space jockeys' are heavily referenced in this film, and are actually shown what they actually look like under that armor as seen in the original Alien. At first I was let down by their appearance, but then I realized, considering their relationship to man, it made sense.
The confusing ending I mentioned involves the point that Alien picks up, and the only way it makes sense is if you think the ship they eventually find is actually a different ship than the one depicted in this film. That's all I can really say.
If you were a fan of the original Alien films, definitly see Prometheus. If you are not a fan, or don't remember, still see this because it definitly still stands on it's own as a great sci fi adventure. I also encourage everyone to draw parallels between the space jockeys and history's Annunaki legends. They are literally the same, and definitely what Ridley Scott drew inspiration from for this story.

One of the best of the year this far.

TOP 10 OF 2011!!!!

The time has come, the walrus said, to speak of many things....

 Like my top 10 movies of 2011! I'm excited, for this is my first year having an actual blog to do said list on  :). Because my new medium is larger, there will be a couple bonus treats for you at the end...

My rules are as they've always been. To qualify, they just need to have been released this year and I need to have actually seen them. There are a handful I have not seen yet that I don't know (but have a hunch) if they'd make this list ie; War Horse, The Debt, Troll Hunter, Contagion, Melancholia, Anonymous, The Muppets, The Artist

Here we go!

10) Thor
When unknown actor Cris Hemsworth was announced to be taking on the role of Norse Thundergod Thor, many people had no idea what to think. Known mostly for his small role as Kirk's doomed father at the beginning of the Star Trek reboot, Hemsworth had some big shows to fill, literally. Me managed to pull off a nice mix of nobility and awkward naivety the character of Thor is known for in his 60+ years of comics. Anthony Hopkins as the father of the gods, Odin, brought a credence to the story as well. Thor will be seen next teamed with the Avengers in 2012.

9) The Adjustment Bureau
Philip K Dick has had a number of his novels and short stories adapted into films. This one is based off the short 'Adjustment Team', starring Matt Damon who gets a glimpse into the inner workings of people's day to day lives when he stumbles upon a strange group of 'people' with the means and ability to  govern and influence our choices and events that happen in our lives. One of my favorite themes, fate vs free will, is laden throughout this film. Also, when Damon's character figures out the means himself, we are taken on a surreal cat and mouse chase through reality itself.

8) Insidious
Insidious is on this list because it hit a personal nerve with me. A horror film involving what happens during night terrors, and the forces at work against you during that time, a found myself actually quite unnerved for I personally experienced numerous night terrors as a kid. This film reminded me of some of them, and connecting those events with what occurs in this film, truth be told I was afraid. The song 'Tiptoe Through The Tulips' will always haunt a part of me now as well...

7) Hanna
I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to watch this film. Action movie? Drawn out drama piece? Coming of age tale? Spy thriller? Thankfully it turned out to be a nice blend of all of those. The tale of the daughter of  a rogue CIA operative, raised and trained in the arctic to be a killing machine only to be brought back to civilization and aimed and let loose after her targets, I found myself really enjoying this one. Saoirse Ronan as the title character brought a gentile yet sharp-as-a-knife mentality to her role. I found myself believing in a young woman discovering herself and the world for the first time, while holding a capability for extreme measure and violence within. As she ventures forth to seek out answers and vengeance, I found myself really rooting for her.

6) Paranormal Activity 3
The Paranormal Activity films have continued what the Blair Witch Project started. While this franchise has begun to blend together a little too much, I'm including this one on here because of the surprising left turn the story in this film takes that I'll admit I never at all saw coming. The ongoing story of a family plagued by paranormal entities and captured on film via home movies, most people were led to believe this was a case of family/house haunted by spooks. Turns out it's far more complicated than that, and the reasons for such both shocked and disturbed me enough to put it on this list. If there is to be a 4th film, I can see it going into some pretty dark territory...

5) Rango
I don't watch a whole lot of cg family movies anymore because a lot tend to be the same. Rango looked different though so I took a chance on it, and I'm glad I did. Johnny Depp voiced the titular character in what amounts to be a full-out western film only with small desert animals instead of people. The animation is very well done, and less cartoony than many films. The jokes are a little more adult, so it caters to the older crowds as well, and many of us older viewers will catch numerous references and nods to classics such as Unforgiven, Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, etc.

4) Harry Potter & The Deathly Hollows prt 2
And so the saga ends. I've never read any of the books (Gasp!I know!) so my Harry Potter experience is tied into the films, but what a ride it was. I began not liking them at all. I thought the first couple were too 'kiddie' and naive. By the 3rd or 4th though I caught on there was a reason for that. We were growing up with Harry, and much like our own lives, his world began to get darker and harsher as he grew. By this final installment, Harry's story had reached it pinnacle, and all he'd learned and trained for had come to this moment. His face off with The-One-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named provided one of the most visually stunning sequences in any film in many years. Thank you Harry.

3) X-Men: First Class
I'm a lifelong X-Men fan. Since 1992 when the animated series premiered I've followed the comics through uncountable story arcs and tales that still I enjoy to this day. The films however...not so much. X-Men 1-3 and Wolverine were all let downs in different ways (X2 was the best of them, but not by much). So when First Class was announced, my excitement didn't really register. But being a fanboy, I of course still went to see it just once, and boy was I surprised. While it still has it's faults, it seems Fox has finally learned from many of it's mistakes and rebooted the franchise. Tying the cold war and other historical moments into the emergence of mutants was clever, and many of the characters were finally used to their potential (Beast was far better utilized for example, though Azazel made no sense being there...). If they continue along this vein of storytelling, I see a brighter future for the series.

2) Captain America: The First Avenger
Nostalgia. That's what this film has going for it, and it has it by the truck load. Like actual WW2 propaganda this film is laden with both subtle and obvious references to north american culture during the 40s. I was never a big Captain America fan but this film made me more of one. The archetypal story of the little guy going against the odds is a favorite of many viewers so it manages to hit a chord for a lot of us. I do find it funny though that one of Marvel's top heroes is basically a guy who started out weak, took a secret drug (like a steroid?), got bigger and therefore better, and is now a leader of many of the most famous super heroes ever. Cap will be seen next in the Avengers in 2012.

1) Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes/Drive
That's right, for the first time ever...a tie for 1st place!! And for very different reasons.
Rise of the Apes came out of left field and became my favorite of the summer movies. Though basically a reboot of the 70s Apes franchise, this film had a lot of heart and worked on numerous levels. It manages to make us truly feel for an imaginary ape. I will also take this chance to acknowledge the amazing work of Andy Serkis, the incredible performer who gave a face to Caesar the ape. I feel Andy Serkis is our modern day Lon Chaney Jr . What Chaney did back in the day with makeup and prostetics (The Wolfman, Son of Dracula, etc) Serkis now does with CG (as Caesar, and Lord of the Ring's Gollum most notably). I really do hope Serkis gets the recognition he deserves ala Oscar nomination...

Drive was the biggest surprise hit for me this year. Ryan Gosling brought in a great performance as a stuntman-by-day bank-heist-driver-by-night man with a troubled past who just wants to escape it all. The real hero of this film was the director, Nicolas Winding Refn, who delivered a stylish crime drama powered by an amazing music score. All the film''s elements came together to create a powerful film that I never expected to enjoy as much as I did, so hat's off to it.

That's my top 10 of 2011, and now the bonuses I promised....

Top 5 WORST FILM OF 2011
5) Twilight : Breaking Dawn prt 1
It's Twilight. Enough said.

4) Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
While the film itself wasn't bad per se, it was far too obvious that it was just an attempt to squeeze more money out of a franchise that has already wrapped up nicely. You could skip this film entirely and not miss a beat of the overall story, and for that it's on this list.

3) Battle: Los Angeles
What was a promising alien invasion flick turned into a blatant military recruitment video. Too much 'Oorah! Lets shoot em!', zero story. Simple as that.

2) Skyline
Following the alien invasion theme, this one also had a promising start, then went downhill. Here's a tip; don't make your main characters, who are trying to survive an epic alien invasion, into Paris Hilton wannabes. We are just left literally hoping they get fried. And that ending? It went from bad alien invasion flick and turned into and even worse moving comic book that was just plain silly.

1) Green Hornet
A prime example that many studios are trying to cash in on 3D for the WRONG reasons. This film is not only a bad story with lame characters, but the 3D elements were outright distracting and turned moments of the movie into a bad music video. I chose to NOT see it in 3D and the elements were still there, they made the film from the beginning as basically one long test of 3D, and all it managed to test was my patience. It's been a long time since I've watched a movie and actually wanted it to end sooner because I was feeling like my time was being wasted.

Most Anticipated of 2012!

1) Prometheus
2) The Avengers
3) The Dark Knight Rises
4) The Hunger Games
5) The Hobbit
6) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
7) 007: Skyfall
8) World War Z

Let me know what you think of these lists, or comment on your own favs and downers.

Take Care :)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.... technically speaking, is not a remake

   Ok, I've heard the gripe over the fact that Hollywood deemed to make a North American version of the Millennium Trilogy within a few scant years of the Swedish version. There appears to have been some anger over this, and many people claiming that, having seen the Swedish films, will not want to see these ones.
   Well then these people will be missing out.
   First you have the fact these films are being helmed by David Fincher, arguably one of the best filmmakers out there. Just take a loot at his work (Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Social Network).
   Next you have great actors taking on the roles. Daniel Craig manages to take an uninteresting character and turn it into something to root for. Stellan Skarsgard and Christopher Plummer round out great performances as well.
   But of course the breakout performance goes to Rooney Mara, a relative unknown previously seen by most in The Nightmare on Elm Street remake and a small role in Social Network. But her performance as expert hacker/investigator Lisbeth Salander kills.
   While I don't like to compare performances between different actors, I really need to give the nod to Mara's version compared to the Swedish version's Noomi Rapace. In the Swedish film, Rapace's character was a hard-as-nails young woman you know you don't want to mess with. While that take on the character wasn't by any means bad, it does kind of discredit the scenes in which she is abused, because when she gets her revenge on her tormentor you completely see it coming. Mara's version is more drawn inward. Her Lisbeth is a strong woman as well, but with a vulnerability that leads to some surprise when she is able to exact her punishment on those who hurt her. Put simply, I felt Rooney Mara's version makes you root for the character more.
  I'll point out now that I have not read the books, so you may take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. Swedish version vs American version, all I know is that apparently the Swedish version cut scenes from the book while the American version didn't  really (which accounts for its 2.5+ hours runtime). But I guess my point is to perhaps persuade folks into not seeing the American version as a hasty remake of the Swedish version, but to see it as a different adaptation of the books. Plus I should mention it having one of the most visceral opening themes I've ever seen...
  All in all a very well made film by an incredible filmmaker and a wonderful cast. I recommend it.