Horrible Bosses

Under 18's begone!

So a little while ago, the combination of constant heat advisories and crappy window air led me to take in a matinee of just about any movie, simply to escape the beastly weather.  I didn't really care what movie it was, but there was one that had caught my eye based on it's cast alone.  All I needed to know was that Jason Bateman of Arrested Development and Charlie Day of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia were two of the main characters to get my kiester in the seat.  I figured between them and Kevin Spacey, Donald Sutherland, Colin Farrel, Jason Sudeikis, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Aniston, and even Steve Weibe of Fistful of Quarters fame, how could you go wrong?

You may have noticed that I rarely cover comedies on here.  In fact, this might be the first straight comedy movie I've ever touched on.  There are a couple of reasons, first being that I very rarely see comedies in the theater.  I always end up inevitably let down by the theater experience when it comes to comedy, no matter how funny the movie is.  I find myself wondering why a Will Farrel flick would need digital sound and a screen that huge as much as laughing at the jokes.  The other reason I haven't talked about a comedy here is that, probably more than any other kind of movie, Comedy is highly subjective.  What's Rolling-in-the-Aisle hilarious to some is eyerollingly lame to others.  That said, Horrible Bosses is right up my Aisle.

The basic plot of the film involves three friends who are stuck in No-Win scenarios at their jobs.  Nick (Bateman) is a dedicated wage slave who gets stiffed on a big promotion because his boss (Spacey) wants a bigger office.  Kurt (Sudeikis) is the right hand man to the owner of a chemical company (Sutherland), until he dies of a sudden heart attack and his cokehead buffoon of a son (Farrel) takes over.  Dale (Day) is a dental assistant and engaged to a beautiful woman, but he works for a sexually voracious dentist (Aniston) who is attempting to blackmail him into cheating with her.  The three friends meet up at a bar after a particularly rough day, and in their drunken desperation, begin to concoct a scheme to eliminate the people ruining their lives.  Permanently.  After a chance meeting in a bar in the rough part of town, a former con named "Mother-Fucker" Jones (Foxx) opts out of taking care of their issue, but becomes their "Murder Consultant."

To say that the plot is dependant on the bosses being unbelievable charactures of what a bad boss might be is an understatement.  However, it's easy to forgive the over the top nature of the targets in this film when the chemistry between the 3 leads gets going.  Jason Bateman and Charlie Day play off each other excellently, and Jason Sudeikis rounds out the crew nicely, particularly when Dale complains about his bosses sexual advances and Kurt comments on how his problem dosen't sound nearly as bad as his or Nick's.  And while the bosses are ridiculous, it bears mentioning that they play it so well that it works pretty hilariously well.  Kevin Spacey plays the self centered jealous corporate fat cat to a T, Colin Farrel is a convincing drug addled comb-over sporting douche-bag, and perhaps most amazing of all, I actually thought Jennifer Aniston as a sexual deviant and manipulative man-eater was a highlight of the film.  And that's saying something, since I normally don't think much of her one way or the other.  Jamie Foxx split my sides every time he was on screen, like the days of In Living Color had come again.

As is to be expected in this kind of over the top comedy, the ending of the film is fairly ludicrous, but by the time you get to it, if you are like me, you will be laughing too hard to analyze it.  In closing, if you want a good gut laugh and don't mind crude humor or language with a dark streak a mile wide definitely check out Horrible Bosses.

8 "Throw Momma From the Train" References out of 10

Captain America: The First Avenger

So here we are, the series of Avengers Origin films is complete, and we have plenty of time to wait and contemplate the merits of them before the Avengers Film itself arrives next May.  The Iron Man films are well documented successes, Thor surprised a lot of people and confirmed my belief that a well done film about the character would be packed with awesome, but how has Cap's film turned out?  Did the future leader of (arguably) the Marvel Universes Premier Super Hero team have as strong a showing as his counterparts?  For the most part, I have to say yes.

Set primarily in the early 1940's, Captain America is the story of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a young man of diminutive stature who desperately wants to enlist in the US Army at the outset of World War II.  Due to his size and history of illness, he is turned down several times, as he falsifies his identity to try over and over to be accepted.  His determination to do his part attracts the attention of a Scientist (Stanley Tucci) who offers him a chance to join the army if he participates in testing his Super Soldier Serum.  Rogers agrees and after being put through his paces by a highly doubtful Colonel (Tommy Lee Jones), he undergoes the Super Soldier procedure, which remakes him into a Super-Human, the height of human potential.  Even as the procedure proves successful, a spy in the midst of the government officials gathered to witness it detonates a bomb, shoots the Scientist, and escapes with a vial of the Super Soldier Serum.  However, Rogers chases the man on foot and apprehends him, in spite of the fact that he flees via a stolen taxi and a submarine.  As the spy crunches his Cyanide Suicide tooth (Classic!), he taunts Rogers that two will rise to take his place, and says "Hail Hydra!" in his death throes.  As the film progresses, Rogers becomes a house hold name selling war bonds as Captain America, and is ridiculed by front line troops when he is sent to Italy, but gains their respect when he single-handedly rescues an entire unit of captured soldiers, including his old friend Bucky.  The film culminates in an epic showdown with the Hydra forces and a one on one fight with their leader, the Super Soldier prototype, Red Skull (Hugo Weaving).

Overall, I have to say that I was extremely impressed with the story, particularly how they incorporated Captain America's classic Golden Age origin into the film in the form of his USO stage show, to hilarious effect.  Also of note, Red Skull is very well fleshed out (pun intended) and he makes a delightfully wicked foil to Cap's selfless heroism.  I also really enjoyed the treatment of tertiary characters, Bucky and "Dum Dum" Doogan, for example.  The inclusion of Howard Stark, Iron Man's grandfather, could have been a simple Cameo, but they made him a very important character, flying Cap in on his first combat mission and designing his suit and, perhaps most importantly, the iconic Vibranium Shield.  Cap's relationship with Agent Peggy Carter, while obviously meant to be the romantic inspiration for Cap, as he is seen with her picture several times, is refreshingly conservative in a world of super heroes always getting the girl, and adds another layer to the character and the ending of the film.  The only problem I had with the story was, ironically, with Cap himself.  While they do a lot to show how he progresses from being unsure of his new abilities to kicking copious amounts of ass and leading an elite group of soldiers hand picked to fight Hydra, I couldn't shake the feeling that his leadership abilities that will make him the obvious choice to lead the Avengers one day were not very well demonstrated.  Maybe that's just me though.

Another note, and one I pointed out to my cousin Daniel during the movie, was that they managed to make Captain America's universe less believable than Thor's.  While it must be said that the inclusion of some Real-World future tech vehicles and weapons that the Germans were actually working on during WWII lent believability to the concept of Hydra being Hitler's "Deep Science" division, some of the other devices have to be described as Ultra Tech by 1940's standards.  It lent a futuristic feel to some of the later combat scenes, which seems odd for a movie set in the past.  And while energy weapons could be explained away by the fact that Red Skull was harnessing power from the same Cube we see in the Stinger at the end of Thor (Dun Dun Dun!), powered armor, Tanks the size of houses, and a massive Flying Wing took me out of the movie a bit.

That said, the visual effects were extremely impressive and well implemented.  Of particular note was the effects used to make Cap look like a scrawny weakling before the Super Soldier Procedure.  Costuming is excellent, from the period outfits, Cap's hilariously authentic comic book outfit, or his actual combat outfit, not to mention Red Skull and his varying and menacing outfits.  Sound is well done, and the plethora of period accurate propaganda songs is delightful.  As far as direction goes, Joe Johnston does a fine job of finding great framing for scenes.  There are not really any of the "What the Hell is Happening, all I can see is Camera Shaking" fight scenes that drive me bonkers, and overall, the action is entertaining and never too over the top (For a Superhero that is).  Oddly enough, one of the most effective scenes is actually the end credits, which is an animated montage of WWII Propaganda posters.  And if anyone left the theater before the end of the credits, big mistake.  Not only do we see a bit of Cap and Nick Fury, but also a teaser trailer for the Avengers film which was downright awesome. 

All in all, I have to say that I really enjoyed Captain America, it was a perfect Penultimate Avengers movie.  And while I have to admit that I enjoyed Thor a bit more personally, it really is an excellent film and worthy of the franchise. 

9 Punched out Hitler's out of 10.

Green Lantern

Okay, my procrastination is reaching critical mass here, I'm now writing a review for a film I saw weeks ago.  So if I get some details muddled, forgive me.

Any Old How, Green Lantern.  It's another in a long line of Summer Superhero movies, including notable releases this year such as Thor and X Men First Class.  Green Lantern is a long on storied DC Comics series beloved by fans.  And while several humans (and countless aliens) have donned the mantle of the titular character, Hal Jordan is probably the best known.  I've never personally kept up on Green Lantern lore (I'm kindof a Marvel / Manga guy) and in all honesty, I had to look up the character on the interwebs to remind myself what his powers were when I heard a movie was in the works way back when.  Still, the previews looked pretty solid and I'm a fan of Ryan Reynolds (He was the only good thing about the Wolverine movie, for example), so I determined to give it a shot, even after a few professional reviewers were less than kind to it.

The film features Hal Jordan, a Jet Fighter Test Pilot who encounters a crashed alien spaceship.  The dying pilot of the alien craft bequeaths a Green Ring and Lantern to Hal, saying that he has been chosen as his replacement.When a confused Hal puts on the ring and touches it to the lantern, he is suddenly clothed in the Garb of the Green Lantern Corps, an interstellar police organization that has agents that wield the Green Power of Courage as a weapon, manifesting green matter in the form of whatever the Lantern can imagine..  Even as Hal is adjusting to his new outfit, he is brought back to planet Oa, the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps, where he begins training to be the Lantern assigned to Earth's galactic sector.  Meanwhile, on Earth, the dead Lantern's body is being studied by a socially inept acquaintance of Hal's who becomes infected by the force that killed the alien, a super-being known as Parallax, which once devastated the galaxy at large by spreading the Yellow power of Fear.

Green Lantern is a Film that tries to get the Batman Begins mix.  That is to say, it tries to please the hardcore fans, educate the novices, and set up a sequel that will move the series forward.  Unfortunately, it fails to hit any of these points masterfully, and in fact fails to subtly hint at anything, sequels included.

If there is one way that the problems with the film could be fixed, I would say that it is Editing.  Visually speaking, there is nothing wrong with the effects or casting, the acting is generally good, and the sound is well done.  However, the pacing of the movie is badly in need to tweaking.  The fact is that there are some scenes that hold the audiences hand too much, and there are others that force the audience to fill in imperceptible gaps.

For example, before any of what I spoke of in the plot synopsis up there occurs, we see Hal Jordan wake up late and ditch the lady in his bed, go to his nephew's birthday party, Pilot a Raptor Fighter in a dogfight with a computer controlled drone fighter, defeating the unbeatable drone fighter, freezing up when his risky maneuvers cause him to lose control of the fighter (an inexplicably long scene where he remembers his dad dying in an explosion after a failed test flight of his own), a lengthy debriefing with his superiors who berate him for his risky maneuvers and losing his jet in a test exercise, and finally a lengthy argument with the Love Interest character which establishes in great detail that they have known each other for years, had a rocky romantic past, and that her father designed the drone ship.  As well as scenes of the Alien Lantern fighting and fleeing from Parallax and a few pointless scenes that incorporate the pointlessly un-funny comic relief character interspersed throughout.  Most of these scenes needlessly hammer home points that were made either by the first line of several lines of dialogue or by simple inference. These scenes could have easily been tightened up in editing to improve the pacing and shorten the amount of time before Hal becomes a Lantern. 

On the other hand, there was a scene during the birthday party that ends with Hal carelessly launching a Hot Wheels onto a loop track and off a ramp.  It's literally a two second blip of film.  No comment on how much he loved Hot Wheels when he was a kid or even an emotional response to seeing or launching the car.  He simply presses the button and calmly leaves the shot.  At the time, I thought "What was the point of that?" and promptly forgot it ever happened.  It wasn't until I started contemplating this review that I realized that this momentary flash was meant to be the inspiration for one of the biggest action/special effects set pieces in the film, in which Hal creates a Life Size green Hot Rod and a track for it to run on out of Green energy. He created the first thing he could think of to avert disaster, but I could not for the life of me figure out why it was a car on a track.  Couldn't they have included a momentary flash of the scene from earlier that inspired it to make sure the connection struck home?  Like I said, Too Much or Too Little story telling, depending on the scene.  Why do we spend so much time examining the Alien Corpse which stops mattering moments later, but never really get a solid explanation of what's happening to Space Mumps Bad Guy's mind?

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things done right in this film as well.  Tension between Hal and Space Mumps is pretty well established, for example.  Also, there is one great scene that really stands out as an example of comics movies not being limited by the rules of comics themselves.  After a painfully unfunny scene with the so-called comic relief best friend character ends with the suggestion that Heroes "Get the Girl", Hal flies to the love interest's apartment and lands on her balcony in his Lantern suit, complete with "Identity Hiding" Eye Mask.  It has oft been pointed out how ludicrous it is to assume a secret identity can be maintained with the application of a tiny mask that covers about 10% of the face. The more egregious example is the Clark Kent Glasses worn by Stupor Man, but I could write a whole paper on why Stupor Man sucks.  When Love Interest (Seriously, does her name matter?) see's him, for a few long moments she looks at him as if she has no clue who this crazy person in a Green and Black body suit on her balcony is.  I think I may have actually said "You have got to be Shitting me." for all the theater to hear when it looked as thought the old Eye Mask gambit had struck again.  It would have been impossible to accept that she wouldn't recognize a childhood friend and love interest because he happened to be wearing a mask that Zorro would refuse to wear because it was too dainty.  But as soon as I said it, her eyes flashed wide and she shouted "Hal?!" then proceeded to berate him for scaring her.  Meanwhile, I proceeded to say "Oh thank god, she can't have been that stupid."  It is really a great example, in my book, of what fans of comics and their related media are really looking for.  Not the "It dosen't have to make sense, it's just a stupid comic" angle of Golden Age comics, or the "Gritty reality" of the Dark Age comics of the 90s, but the Silver Age feel.  Believable People with Unbelievable powers in a believable modern world.

Overall, Green Lanterns faults are mostly on the technical side, some better direction and editing would have resolved most of the nagging issues, and a slightly better script would have fixed the rest.  It's not perfect, but it far from terrible.  It's one of the few movies I've seen in 3D that didn't make me want to take the glasses off 5 minutes in, and in the end it's a fun movie.

6 Obvious Future Badguys out of 10

Seriously, the stinger at the end of the film was pointless because A) Lantern Fans knew it was coming before the first teaser trailer was over and B) His Name/motivations/etc were a dead giveaway to everyone else.

Xmen: First Class

Well, at this point, I am a couple movies and one major event behind in this here blog, and let's not even discuss what happened to that story I was working on.  But, I'm back in the saddle, and I have some things to talk about.  So let's go with X Men: First Class for a Kickoff.

I should probably start out by saying that I have long been a complete fanboy spas for the X Men in all it's incarnations.  Whether it be reading and re-reading my brother's X Men comics when I was a kid, the incalculable amount of money I spent on the X Men Arcade game in the 90's, devotion to the animated series bordering on unhealthy (and I liked Jubilee, so shut up!), or my shameless fan-boy squeeing when the original film was released, I've Always been an avid fan of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.  However, in recent years, I've grown more guarded when it comes to X Men in popular media, as the quality of the films has, to my mind, decreased with each new release.  While it was awesome to see Nightcrawler kick butt in X2, Last Stand is a film I can honestly say I've only seen once.  It failed to capture what I loved about the concept in my mind and took a Pirates 3 style dive unceremoniously into the "One Sequel too many" files.  So when I heard that a new X Men film was in the works, I scarcely took notice, not ready to be disappointed again.  As the release date inched closer and trailers and story details began to surface, my interest was piqued.  Focusing on Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr?  The Hellfire Club?  Set during the Cuban Missile Crisis?  Quietly, a tiny fan-boy in the back of my mind was bouncing on the balls of his feet at the possibilities.

So I saw it.  And I have to say, it was more than a mere return to form, it is reinventing the wheel in a big way.

First Class tells quite possibly the most important story in the X Men Mythos, the origin of Extraordinarily powerful telepath Professor X and The Master of Magnetism, Magneto's Friendship and subsequent Animosity.  It also focuses a great deal on the shape-shifter Mystique, from when she was a young girl and how she came to be one of Magneto's most trusted allies. 

The film opens with a dramatic demonstration of how different the two friend's childhoods were.  Young Erik is seen manifesting his powers of magnetism in an attempt to keep his family together in a Nazi Concentration Camp, only to be taken away by a man named Sebastian Shaw and tormented into developing his powers further.  Charles Xavier, on the other hand was raised in the lap of luxury, demonstrated by the fact that he lives in a mansion and recognizes Mystique aping his mother's appearance not only by reading her mind, but because he has never seen his mother anywhere near the kitchen.  After Mystique reveals her true form, blue skinned, golden eyed, and red haired, and says her name is Raven, Charles offers to let her stay with him, so she will never have to steal again.  From then on, Raven is raised as Charles' Sister. 

Fast Forward to 1962, and we find Charles publishing a thesis on Mutation and using his powers to seduce women and Erik hellbent on finding Shaw, the man that tortured him and killed his family.  After CIA agent Moira MacTaggart reveals the existence of The Hellfire Club, a collective of Mutants, led by Shaw, with dubious goals, Charles is brought in as an expert on Mutation.  While in pursuit of Shaw's Submarine, Erik nearly drowns attempting to prevent his escape with his powers, but he is rescued by Charles, who was in pursuit of the Hellfire Club with MacTaggart.  From there, Shaw's true goal is revealed and Charles and Erik work together to recruit other mutants to combat the Hellfire Club and bring Shaw to Justice. 

I really have to praise the writing in this film.  Never too corny, but never taking itself too seriously either, and with fantastic pacing, it tells the story of the first major conflict involving mutant combatants against a perfectly appropriate backdrop.  I've heard some point out that the film feels more like "The Magneto Story" than X Men, and I can't really argue, but really, is there a more important character in X Men lore than their primary antagonist, with the exception of Xavier himself?  While some of the mutants, like Riptide, Havok, Banshee, and Azazel (to some extent) are a bit one dimensional, they all get a chance to show off their impressive powers.  One character I really enjoyed was the reboot of Angel from an aristocratic prettyboy with eagle wings to a young girl with dragonfly wings and the ability to spit explosive projectiles working as a stripper.

As far as visuals go, all of the characters and their powers are well designed and convincingly real looking.  Sets are, for the most part, period accurate and costuming is well done.  Visual effects never really overwhelm the scene and are usually subtle for most of the mutant's powers, with Havok and Riptide as fairly obvious exceptions.  The only real complaint I have from a visual standpoint is Hank McCoy's Beast form.  It just looks... off for some reason.

Sound is excellently done in this film as well, with plenty of well crafted sound effects and suitably epic or subdued music to fit the scene.  There are also some popular period songs that add to the 60's feel of the film. 

Overall, I'd have to say that First Class soundly eclipses the original X Men Trilogy.  It's bigger, and yet more personal, and it has a lot of heart, and a lot more to say than just "Mutant Powers are Cool!"  Plus, Logan in the Single greatest Cameo ever, besides maybe Stan Lee's in Thor.

9 Nazi Coins out of 10

PS:  Is it wrong of me to wish Jubilee would make more of an appearance in a future X Men Sequel?  I always liked her.

Thor

It's been just over a day and a half since I saw Thor on opening night, and it is a testament to how dog tired I've been the last few days and honestly a bit of a miracle that I haven't done a write up on it before now.  But now, powered by a Red Eye Coffee from Java Joes, a Monster Rehab, and the first decent night's sleep I've had in a few days, I'm finally awake enough. 

*May I humbly Suggest you play this song while you read this?*

As the day comic nerds and action junkies the world over are salivating (or dreading in some cases) approaches, Thor is the penultimate origin film leading up to the long awaited Avengers crossover film, with only Captain America yet to be released.  Of all the members of the Avengers, few are more worrisome when it comes to a live action adaptation than the Norse God of Thunder himself, Thor Odinson.  In all honesty, I've always loved the character, both in mythology and comics, but when news that the Avengers movies were in the works began to surface around the internet after the success of Iron Man, I was skeptical.  With an Idea as fantastic as Thor himself coming to Earth, it's hard to imagine how a convincing film adaptation could be accomplished.  In fact, I wasn't convinced that the film wasn't a doomed enterprise until I saw the trailers.  The images were so compelling, and the actor so believably Aesir like, that I went straight from guarded optimism to fanboy obsession before the first trailer ended.  So now that I've seen it, was my initial skepticism confirmed, or did it deliver the satisfying film version of a classic Marvel Hero the Trailers seemed to promise?


The answer is it didn't meet my expectations, it completely eclipsed them.

I normally talk a bit about the story, but honestly, I just can't.  I really don't want to ruin any aspect of the story, but trust me when I say, It is utterly top notch and tells the story of Thor's descent to the Earth Realm in a compelling and at times, suitably humorous, fashion.  That being said, I'll skip ahead.

There are two primary pitfalls that could have easily sunk this movie.  Modernization and Cheese, for lack of a better term.  I could easily have seen a version of this movie where the story revolved around a normal man acquiring Thor's actual powers or Thor-like powers in a way that didn't directly involve the Aesir Gods, and such a film would have brought my blood to a boil.  And while some will argue that such a story is technically canonical (See Thunderstrike), it would be a pale shadow of the tale told in the actual film.  On the other hand, the film could have easily overdone it when it comes to sticking to the comic version, or half-assed the visuals, or most disturbing of all, miscast Thor himself so badly that he never becomes believable as the mortal incarnation of a Norse Warrior God.  Thankfully, this was not the case.

One of the great strengths of Thor is it's casting.  Chris Hemsworth, a largely unknown actor, is a truly brilliant choice.  For a start, he looks the part.  Tall, Blonde, Ripped, and from what I overheard from the ladies sitting near me in the theater and on the internets, none too hard on the eyes.  But a pretty face and abs you could grate cheese on do not a convincing Thor make.  Luckily, Hemsworth's acting chops are impressive, conveying the emotional state of his character perfectly.  From the arrogant pride of a massively powerful Aesir Prince, to the unease of a God made Mortal, to the the devastation of losing his birthright, to the Heroic resolve to save the day at any cost, his performance drives the movie.  That is not to say that the rest of the cast isn't similarly impressive.  For a start, Anthony Hopkins as Odin is an absolutely inspired choice, as he brings dignity and subtle power to the role.  Natalie Portman as 'love-interest' Jane, the scientist who is the first to 'encounter' Thor when he arrives on earth is a great reversal of the Hollywood trend of Gorgeous but Vapid girls pursuing a Nerdy Male lead.  She is Gorgeous, make no mistake, but she is the brains of the film for sure, and her relationship with Thor feels very genuine.  Jane's intern, Darcy, played by Kat Dennings (another gorgeous young woman, for the record) commonly fills the role of comedy relief, but comes across more as a quirky person dealing with an unexplainable situation, rather than the cartoony variety of 'funny character' who may as well just grab the camera and demand the audience laugh.  (see Jar Jar Binks).  Thor's brother, Loki, is played by Tom Hiddleston, another actor I didn't know much about going into this movie, but his performance is nuanced and he plays the Trickster God not as the Smirking, Mustache twirling Snidely Whiplash type, but a cold and calculating manipulator, comparable to Ozymandias in Watchmen.  However, there are a couple of casting choices that may have some scratching their heads.  In fact, there was a small stink over the casting of Idris Elba, an acclaimed African actor from England as Heimdall, and the incomparable Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano, best known for Ichi the Killer and Last Life in the Universe, as Hogun.  However, once you see Elba in the film, it quickly becomes clear that he is an excellent choice and Asano's only real issue is that his accent is occasionally distracting, but he plays the role admirably.

When it comes to the visuals, it bears mentioning that it is no small task to present a believable film version of Asgard, home of the Aesir gods, or the Frost Giant lands of Jotunheim, not to mention Bifrost the Rainbow Bridge, but the environments feel simultaneously stupendously alien and completely believable as the Realms of the Gods.  That said, a desert in New Mexico may seem a boring setting to switch to, but a one horse town and sprawling S.H.I.E.L.D investigation site make for interesting Earth backdrops.  The visual effects overall are very well done, with only the occasional instance of action that is hard to follow to mention as a negative, and a lot of well executed set pieces as a posative.  The Destroyer (which I have always wanted to see in a film) is a great example.  It also bears mentioning that the costuming completely embraces the style of the comics without becoming too cheesy as a result.  Colors are subdued and metalic, rather than spandex, but still incorporate the recognizable traits of the costumes so that the main Asgardian characters are instantly recognizable.  The only gripe I had was that Thor only dons his trademark winged helm in one scene early in the film, but at least Loki wears his curled horn helm for most of the second half of the film.  The fight scenes are well constructed and appropriate to the scene, from Thor easily overpowering Frost Giants in all his Aesir glory to the frantic, knock-down-drag-out fistfights of mortal Thor.

Sound wise, the music is suitably epic, with only two licensed songs, both in the credits if I remember correctly.  The score is memorable and adds volumes to the emotional feel of the moment it accompanies.  Sound effects are very well done, very convincing. 

It may surprise some to hear that Kenneth Branagh, famed as an actor in his own right and known for his film adaptations of Shakespear, was the films director.  To me, it seems somewhat fitting that he would helm this film, as it could be safely described as part epic adventure and part comedy, in the Shakespearian sense of the word.  Overall, there was really only one scene (the very first to be honest) where a choice of camera movement took me out of the movie to any degree. 

Overall, Thor proves that, with the proper treatment and devotion to the source material, even a comic about the God of Thunder kicking butt in the human realm can be made believable, compelling, and incredibly entertaining.  The honest truth is that this film may be the best comic book adaptation I've ever seen, and may have surpassed The Dark Knight as my favorite Super Hero movie.  It's that Good.  Cap has his work cut out for him!


10 Pulverized Frost Giants out of 10.  Go see it, at once!

Paul

One thing I've always loved in cinema is the skillful parody.  Masters like Mel Brooks and the Python's have always split my sides with their precise dissection of genre norms, whether they wield subtle or sledge-hammer wit.  These days, the emerging "New Guard" in the field of parody films is headed up by the team of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  Their first film, Shaun of the Dead, brilliantly lampooned the oft over the top Zombie Movie genre.  They teamed up again for Hot Fuzz, a film that skillfully skewered Buddy Cop action films.  Now with their third major collaboration, Paul, they tackle Alien Encounter science fiction films like ET and (big surprise) Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  And while the parody aspect of their first two films was obviously born of a desire to announce their devotion to the given genre, warts and all, Paul succeeds in remaining a dutifully devoted parody of the source material while still telling a compellingly original story.  And while I have to say that I find SotD and HF with their plethora of in jokes to be more thoroughly hilarious in general, I appreciate Paul as a more complete film.

The film opens with two Science Fiction fans from the UK (played by Pegg and Frost) attending the San Diego Comic-Con, a well known mecca for Nerds all over the world.  After the conference, they rent an RV and set out on a tour of purported Alien encounter hot-spots.  As they travel, they witness a car crash in the desert.  Stopping to help, they meet Paul, a smart mouthed Extra terrestrial who quickly befriends the two.  He lets them know that he is attempting to meet up with a ship that will take him off world.  As they travel, they encounter government agents attempting to reacquire Paul for nefarious reasons. 

From a technical standpoint, Paul demonstrates some impressive special effects and sound.  The character Paul, voice hilariously by Seth Rogan, is completely computer generated and almost always believable.  The sound design and score are excellent, including a number of recognizable queues.  Overall, effects rarely distract from the story, which is always important in this kind of film. 

Overall, Paul does a great job of telling a humorous and heartwarming story within the guidelines of it's genre while managing to feel completely original and complimentary of it's inspiration at the same time.  While I can't say that it is a better film than Pegg and Frost's previous work, it certainly deserves to be mentioned among them. 

8 Small Cowboy's out of 10.

Top Ten: Quotable Movies

Started this a long time ago, finally finishing it.

Thanks to Jeff for the suggestion on this top ten list.

So anyone who knows me personally will tell you that I quote movies like I'm getting paid for it.  For as far back as I can remember (and even further if you ask my Uncle Ken and other family members about "Drivin in my Caawr!") I was always trying to get laughs out of people by imitating Weird Al songs and reciting entire Bill Cosby routines.  As I got older and saw more and more movies and comedians, I continued to latch on to choice lines and reference them in conversation, but there were some films that I saw so many times and enjoyed so much that I knew the pacing of every line and the inflection of every delivery.  This is a list of 10 such films (Or series of films as the case may be).  Warning, Almost none of these will be kid friendly, so get out of here kids!  Also, SPOILERS!  Let's dive right in with:

Very close Runner Up) Slap Shot

The Hansons are a big reason this is on the list, but there are a lot of great lines from everyone else in the film as well.

And another, since this topic was impossible to narrow it down)  Clerks

Jay and Silent Bob, Dante and Randal, Berzerker, Star Wars Political Discussions, what more could you ask for?

With Musical Guest) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.

Yeah, Singing along counts.

Oh, and The Joker in the The Dark Knight.

10)  Lucky # Slevin

This is a personal favorite that I don't think a lot of people saw.  It's hardly chock full of one liners, but the strength of this film is conversations and characters.  The Boss, The Rabbi, Goodkat, Lindsey, Brickowski, and Slevin talks back to all of them.










9)  Fight Club

From Edward Norton's deadpan narration to Brad Pitt's off kilter philosophical musings, to the bizarre moments of synergy between the two, Fight Club is one of those movies that I can't help but quote from time to time.  **Spoilers on this one**










8)  Boondock Saints

This film is about 80% memorable one liners.  The rest is crazy action.  The Brothers, Rocco, Papa Joe, Agent Smecker, the Boston cops, so many great lines from all of them.










7)  O Brother, Where Art Thou

Talk about a movie that is almost completely quotable.  From "Any you boys Smithies?" to "Finding one little ring in the middle all that water is one hell of a heroic task!"  to the songs you can't help but hum or sing along, this 1930s retelling of the Odyssey has plenty of lines I just love.









6)  Airplane!

Do I really have to explain?  This ridiculous send-up of 70's disaster movies is completely irreverent and even more hilarious.











5)  Space Balls

Any of a number of Mel Brooks' films could have ended up on this list, but Spaceballs was always my favorite.  This brilliant lampooning of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Sci Fi in general is brimming with hilarious lines.











4)  Pulp Fiction

If there is one thing we all know about Quentin Tarantino, it's that he loves copious amounts of dialog in his films.  From Jules and Vincent's smalltalk and philosophical musings,  Vincent keeping his boss's wife company, Butch the slightly unstable boxer, and an unforgettable cameo by Christopher Walken.











3)  The Princess Bride

A fantasy story full of memorable characters and even more memorable lines, The Princess Bride will always be one of those movies I can't help but quote as I watch it, I love it so much.

Bonus: I got an A in speech class in high school for reciting this scene.









2)  Monty Python Movies

Enough Said.

1)  The Big Lebowski

What can I say about the Big Lebowski?  It is crude, lewd, and the home of the Dude.  It's also entirely hilarious and the Cohen Brothers best film in my opinion.

Ip Man

As a fan of Martial Arts Films in general and Donnie Yen's brand of frenetic action scenes in particular, it wasn't hard to convince me to give this film a look.  I've stated in the past that any film with Donnie Yen in it has my attention, regardless of how potentially awful other aspects of the movie may be.  Honestly, I would have been happy with 90 minutes of Donnie punching people for no discernible reason.

But with Ip Man, I was treated to so much more.

The film opens in the mid 1930's in Foshan, the hometown of Chinese Folk Hero Wong Fei-Hung, and a well known center of Southern Chinese martial arts schools.  We are introduced to the unassuming, independently wealthy Wing Chun practitioner Ip Man.  He is a humble man who has mastered his fighting style, but has not opened a school because he is uneasy with the idea of having students answer to him.  His privileged life is spent discussing martial arts with his friends, the occasional friendly duel with locals or masters from other provinces seeking to make a name for themselves, and family time.  As humble and selfless as he is, his martial prowess is unequaled in all of Foshan.

The idyllic first act comes to disheartening close, as in 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War breaks out, and Foshan falls in Japan's invasion.  Ip Man, now destitute as his home and possessions were confiscated by the occupying Japanese forces, is forced to work sifting coal to feed his wife and child.  One day, a Japanese Colonel comes to the coal mine and announces that General Miura is staging martial arts competitions between his soldiers and local Chinese citizens, and with a bag of rice promised to any man who wins, several men accept the invitation.  When one of Ip Man's old friends from before the War never returns from one of these tournaments, he volunteers himself in order to learn what may have happened to him.  Once there, he witnesses another Master and friend fight and defeat a Japanese soldier.  They toss him his bag of rice, but he boasts that he wants to fight three more men.  The General is pleased to acquiesce to this request, and three more fighters take on Master Liu.  It becomes clear that Liu is over-matched and he yields.  When he picks up the rice he won for his first fight, Sato, the Colonel, shoots him dead on the spot.  All Ip Man can do is scream at the interpreter "Why!?  Why did they Shoot him?"  General Miura twists Sato's arm to point the gun at his own face and demands an explanation.  Sato explains that he shot Liu for taking the rice even though he lost the match.  The general forbids him to use deadly force again, but the cold blooded murder goes largely unpunished.

At this point, Ip Man forces himself to the front of the crowd and volunteers to be the next to fight.  When he comes to the center of the ring, he coldly demands Ten Opponents.  The general is intrigued by Ip Man's gall to challenge so many men at once, and obliges.

Ip Man calmly brutalizes all ten opponents into submission, shock due to broken bones, or unconsciousness due to broken skulls.  From there, his legend only grows and the film culminates with an honor duel of epic proportions.

The plot is epically good, telling several touching stories against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent periods in Chinese history.  Westerners were seemingly blissfully ignorant of the attrocities being commited in China at the time, and seeing what the twisted bastardization of the Japanese Warrior Code of Bushido let bubble to the surface in Japan's society prior to the end of World War II is a sad reminder of the grim realities of the first half of the Twentieth Century.  When you really look at the sequence of events leading up to the Cultural Revolution, the rise of communism in China begins to feel less like a sinister reversal for a free and happy culture, and more like a tragic inevitability.

That said, this film is pro China and celebrates the culture that existed before the march of time and endless war swept it away forever.  Donnie Yen's character demonstrates the best virtues of old Chinese Culture perfectly.  He is level headed, selfless, forthright, humble, and strong willed.  This film is also loaded with a lot of very talented actors and impressive martial artists.

Sound is handled extremely well, with no trace of cheesy Foley sound effects and an excellent score.

If there is one term I would choose to describe every fight in the film, it is "One-Sided".  Whether it's Ip Man effortlessly defeating Master Liu before the war, or Jin pounding a reputation out of several Foshan Martial Arts instructors, it is always fairly evident which man is the superior fighter early on.  This actually adds a sense of realism to this film based on the real Ip Man's life.  There are no feeling out processes, no shifting advantages, no second winds, no come from behind victories.

Overall, this film is absolutely solid.  I honestly have nothing bad to say about it.  It more than deserves to be mentioned in the company of such genre classics as Hero, Huo Yuanjia, House of Flying Daggers, Drunken Master, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and should be on anyones watch list, even if you don't enjoy martial arts movies.  And Donnie Yen continues to build his legacy as a Film Legend.

10 Karate Guys broken in Half out of 10.  Seriously, instant classic.

Top Ten: Martial Arts Fight Scenes

-FYI, I was sick as a Dog most of the week, so I am taking a pass on Saturday Anime this week, cause it's 7pm on Sat and I haven't even started it yet.  Good news tho, I am thinking of starting work on a serialized science-fiction/fantasy story, so stay tuned.  I got a Top Ten done, tho, so enjoy!-

One thing I love is Martial Arts flicks.  It is a genre where I can easily forgive film trespasses that would doom other movies in a heartbeat.  The most insanely improbable street gangs look commonplace in a Tony Jaa movie, as long as he jumps off walls and beats seven shades of whupass out of them, the flimsiest plot to motivate Donnie Yen to suplex someone is perfectly acceptable, the most unfathomable racist and over the top dubbing goes unnoticed if Jackie Chan is jumping through playground equipment at the time, and no amount of crappy filmmaking in general can prevent me from enjoying Jet Li doing anything.  For my top ten this week, I decided to compile a quick list of the 10 best fights that come to mind when I think of the genre, whether they be classic duels or a case of the odds stacked against a Wushu master.  You may notice a distinct lack of Bruce Lee fights, and that's because I've honestly not seen his stuff enough to judge it. Enter The Dragon is the only movie of his I've really seen, so Bruce fans, I apologize in advance for my ignorance of his work.  I'm going to link vids because I know nothing about HTML and Something I did messed up embeding them so they come out as tiny little squares. Whatevs, here we go!

10)  Jet Li Vs. Chen Zhi Hui - Huo Yuanjia AKA Fearless

This scene is the moment when Jet Li's character more or less ruins his life, and it comes out in his mannerisms in the fight.  What starts out as a relatively honorable duel quickly degrades to a brutal fistfight with little finesse and a lot of emotion.  As Huo Yuanjia and Master Chin fight, Chin with a weighted sword, Huo is clearly overpowered and outmatched, only turning the tide when he disarms his opponent.  The fight culminates in an act of brutality against a defenseless man that changes Huo's fate and the fate of China in the process.

Fun Fact:  Fans of Dynasty Warriors, if you had to guess which character Chen Zhi Hui played in a movie based on the Three Kingdoms, who would you guess? If you said Zhang Fei, You win, Grats!




9)  Zhang Ziyi Vs. Michele Yeoh - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon


Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh epically tangled in this wuxia classic.  When Jen (Zhang Ziyi), the headstrong daughter of an aristocrat  steals wudangquan master Li Mu Bai's (Chow Yun-fat) famed sword Green Destiny, she is intercepted by Li Mu Bai's friend Yu Shu Lien (Michele Yeoh) who was entrusted with the weapon.  Shu Lien attempts to subdue Jen, but the might of Green Destiny overwhelms her and breaks weapon after weapon.  Broadswords, Hookswords, a heavy Brass rod, all are shattered by the legendary sword.  Jen taunts Shu Lien, saying she cannot overcome her no matter what weapon she chooses.  Shu Lien selects a heavy steel sword.  As the fight continues, Green Destiny once again breaks Shu Lien's Weapon, but the broken blade comes to rest against Jen's throat in what could have been a killing stroke.




8)  Donnie Yen Vs. Jet Li - Once Upon a Time in China 2 and Hero


Donnie Yen and Jet Li only had a short fight in OUATIC2, and it only hinted at the epic confrontation these two masters would one day have in Hero.  As the Nameless Warrior (Jet Li) retells his tale of slaying the three most dangerous assassins in the kingdom, he describes his encounter with Long Sky (Donnie Yen).  Confronting the Assassin at a weiqi parlor, Nameless and Long Sky spend a long moment envisioning their fight, before they attack one another.  While this fight is heavy on Wire Fu, it still displays a great deal of martial talent and lightning fast attacks, coming to an amazing finish.





7)  Jackie Chan Vs. Benny the Jet - Dragons Forever.


This one is a rare gem.  Benny "The Jet" Urquidez is one of the original mixed martial arts legends.  His fast, brutal offense and unorthodox style made him an unpredictable competitor in Karate and Kickboxing from 1974 to 1993 with an official record of 63 Wins, 0 Losses, and 57 Knockouts (he claims an unofficial record of 200-0).  The Jet is a real life Martial Arts Legend.  He appeared in two films opposite Jackie Chan, and put him over both times.  "Put Over" is a wrestling term, meaning to lose to someone in order to make the victor look better.  And Benny Urquidez did this spectacularly well for Jackie Chan Twice!  This fight is fast and technical, and even includes the classic "Guy gets knocked through a wall of boxes full of smaller boxes" trope. 





6)  Tony Jaa Vs. Lateef Crowder, John Foo, AND Nathan Jones! - The Protector (Tom Yum Goong)


When Tony Jaa's character arrives to find the Temple he had been hiding out in is under attack, he is confronted by a man with Dreadlocks and the word Pray carved into his chest.  The mystery man (Crowder) knocks Tony around a while with capoeira, until Tony picks up on the weaknesses of the style and exploits them.  Before he can catch his breath, he dodges a flying Dao and is forced to defend himself against it's wielder unarmed.  One Indiana Jones reference later, Tony arms himself with the hammers used to sound the gong and dispatches the assailant.  Then an arm the size of a Great Dane grabs Tony through a door, and Nathan Jones comes through with it.  Tony collects himself, but now he is fighting a man nearly 3 times his size (Tony weighs in at around 130 pounds and Nathan tips the scales at 350).  Jones tosses him around easily, bouncing him off a pillar, rugby tackling him, and kicking him into a bookshelf, destroying it, before the arrival of the police forces him to retreat.
Jaa Vs. Jones II is also awesome and deserves to be combined into this pick.  Even with the help of three other Human Elephants and a whip swinging Lady-Man, Tony still busts Nathan up in their rematch.

5)  Jackie Chan Vs Jet Li - Forbidden Kingdom



What can I really say about this one?  Do I even Have to explain?   This is a dream match that fans of the genre really never believed would happen, especially after Jet Li stated that Huo Yuanjia would be his final Martial Arts film a few years before this film came out.  So to see two of my favorite film martial artists actually face off was surreal and thrilling.  Say what you want about this film, the fact that Jet and Jackie are both in it makes it absolutely worth it.






4)  Jackie Chan Vs Ken Lo and Ho-Sung Pak - Drunken Master II


In the final confrontation of this wuxia classic, Wong Fei-Hong confronts the leaders of the gang that was smuggling Chinese artifacts and selling them to foreigners in the steel foundry they had taken over as a front for their operation.  Fei-Hong takes care of the lower ranks easily, but the lightning fast Tae Kwon Do master (Ken Lo) and his brutal thug (Ho-Sung Pak) prove a much greater challenge.  Earlier in the film, he had shown that the right amount of alcohol augmented his Drunken Fist fighting style, but he had also made a drunken fool of himself by consuming too much.  In desperation to even the odds against his two opponents, Fei-Hong grabs a container of industrial firestarter.  Whether it was grain alcohol or pure Gasoline, consuming just the right amount of the volatile liquid does the trick, and Fei-Hong proceeds to dispatch his foes in spectacular fashion.


3)  Tony Jaa: The Pretzel Factory - The Protector (Tom Yum Goong)



While some may argue that most of what goes on in this scene may not strictly qualify as martial arts, it is nonetheless impressive at the very least.  The sheer number of ways Tony and the fight coordinators came up with to bust these schmucks up is just mind boggling.  And the lesson to be learned is Don't mess with Tony's Elephants.









2)  Jackie Chan Vs. Benny The Jett - Wheels on Meals



Remember how I said that Benny The Jet faced off with Jackie Chan Twice?  Are you really surprised to see the other fight on this list?  This is a very well paced fight, if you can call "almost too fast to follow" a pace.  Jackie bodily dragging Benny off the steps to clear an escape route for Sammo Hung?  Good Stuff.  Benny taking a stiff punch in the face and licking his lips in response?  Wow.  Benny back kicking Jackie AND taking his coat off at the same time, then snapping his oh so snappy suspenders?  Classic.  The "feeling out" process mid fight?  Benny attacking a shelled up Jackie and pushing a banquet table around the room in the process, the roundhouse kicking the Flames off Several candles, no special effects required?  Holy Crap!  And that's just the first Minute and a half of this Five and a half minute brawl.  A true Classic, and a Must see fight.


1)  Jet Li Vs An Entire Karate School - Fist of Legend


It's Jet Li.  Versus an entire Karate School.  Jet never even breaks a sweat.

Need I say More?

Bonus:  Watch for the move I affectionately call the "Crotch Toss".









Honorable Mentions:  The Bride Vs. Gogo Yubari and the Crazy 88s, Tony Jaa Vs everyone in the Ong Bak movies and the stairwell longcut in The Protector, Tak Sakaguchi Vs. Everything that Moves in Death Trance, Nathan Jones in Som Tam, and Any fight involving Donnie Yen, particularly Donnie and Rong-Guang Yu Vs Yen Shi-Kwan in Iron Monkey.  Mifune Toshiro in Sanjuro or any of a number of other samurai movies.  And there is something Hilariously Awesome about the Conveyor Belt Fight in The Myth, starring Jackie Chan.  Oh, and I have to mention The Hammer scene from Old Boy, but I'm not posting a Vid, so you have to see the movie.  Go do it now.  Seriously, stop reading this and watch Old Boy.  I'll wait.

A Challenge of sorts.

So I've been noticing, I've only really reviewed things I overall enjoyed, some more than others, but there really hasn't been a stinker so far. With that in mind, I would like to open up the floor to anyone who may read this and ask for suggestions of movies (or whatever) I should look at that I may not like. Bear in mind, I tend to enjoy Cult movies, so things like Big Trouble in Little China may not be your best bet. Anyway, Just a thought. One such film I am already thinking of watching and subsequently verbally destroying when it comes out is Priest: The Bastardization Edition. See, I'm starting already.

Anywho, whatever, just thought I'd throw that Out there.

As an example of a movie I hate, I present the following. This trailer can't do this horrid movie justice.

Spoiler: This is the real reason I hate this movie. The 3 minute mark is where it becomes so stupid I can't believe it.

Seriously, she became an internationally renowned feminist writer simply to seduce one bubble-headed playboy? Way to set your gender back 100 years or so. The whole idea that she doesn't believe in the teachings of her own book, because she intentionally wrote it to be as full of crap as it could possibly be to attract his chauvinistic attention, makes the whole plot feel pathetically misogynistic. Gah, I could bitch about this movie all night, I better let it go, haha!

True Grit

My devotion to the Western continues to be rewarded. I took in True Grit this evening, a movie that I have been anticipating for some months now. And this remake of a John Wayne classic did not disappoint.

Set in the 1870s in Arkansas, the film centers around 14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) and her attempts to bring her father's murderer, one Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), to justice. She enlists the help of Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Matt Damon) and a ruthlessly efficient US Marshall Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges).

The actors are all excellent, as is usually the case with a Cohen Brothers picture. Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges play off of one another very well, as their characters often clash. Bridges is very believable in the roll. At first I worried that he may have fallen into the trap of either being too much or too little like the John Wayne portrayal, but Bridges really made the performance his own, really owned the character. But I was very impressed with young Hailee Steinfeld, who traded insults like a champ with Matt Damon, bartered an almost free horse out of a salesman, and even shot some folks along the way.

If there is one driving force behind this film besides revenge, it's Banter. The characters are constantly verbally jabbing at one another and often even the heroes are parting ways over matters of pride and words spoken in anger. I found myself laughing quite frequently at the constant flow of sideways compliments and flat out insults the characters leveled at one another.

One point that I feel I should mention, I was very happy to see that this film stayed what it was meant to be. A Western, in the traditional sense of the word. Don't get me wrong, I love the modern Action Westerns (as my review of The Good, the Bad, and the Weird will confirm), but this movie felt like a return to the days when a western only needed gunplay, witty dialogue, and heroes facing villains. It didn't try to be a heavy handed morality play, or an overbearing action fest. It was just True Grit, a film who's title describes what you are in for perfectly. Heroic characters displaying copious amounts of intestinal fortitude.

9 Gun-Shot Spareribs out of 10

Gulliver's Travels (2010)

So earlier this week, I took my cousin to a movie for her birthday. As she was the birthday girl, I told her to pick what flick we saw. She chose Gulliver's Travels, which was fine by me, since I'm a big fan of Jack Black.

To start off, I wasn't aware it was a 3D picture until they handed us the glasses on the way in, and I honestly was a little put off by it at first. I'm not a big believer in the "Avatar was Huge, Let's Make every movie 3D" philosophy in Hollywood these days. However, after the first ten minutes or so, it felt pretty natural, if only I didn't have to wear those Roy Orbison looking glasses.

Anyway, the story is a modern retelling of the classic tale of Gulliver's Travels. Here, our modern Gulliver works in the mail room at a New York newspaper. He seems largely content with his life until a new guy in the mail room gets promoted past him the same day he is hired. New guy also picks up on the fact that Gulliver has been crushing on the paper's Travel writer Darcy Silverman, played by Amanda Peet (and who can blame him? Have you seen The Whole 9 Yards? But I digress.) Gulliver attempts to ask her out, but ends up chickening out and claiming to be a freelance travel writer himself. She asks to see a sample of his work, which he plagiarizes out of desperation, then sends him on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle. Once there, he quickly gets transported to Lilliput, where he is a giant compared to the island's tiny residents. There's a lot of ludicrous stuff that happens from there, but it's a fantasy movie, so I let it slide.

While I can't say that the movie is Laugh-a-minute Funny, I have to say it is entertaining and amusing. As a modern version of the classic story, it holds up fairly well. The cast of the film was very impressive to me as well. Billy Connoly of Boondock Saints, Catherine Tate of Doctor Who (who is painfully underutilized here), and Most of all Chris O'Dowd famously of the IT Crowd. There is something about Chris O'Dowd that made me laugh out loud almost every time he spoke, he was really the highlight of the film for me.



Overall, this film is not likely to win any awards, and I can't say that I'll ever see it again, but I still enjoyed it. I recommend it to those who want to see a 3d movie done well with some Jack Black hilarity.

6 How to Build Your Own Robot Magazines out of 10

My First 10 Blu Rays

So I got a Blu Ray movie for Christmas and as a result, finally caved and bought a player. I'm not sure why I was putting it off, but there it is. When I went to buy the player at Best Buy the day after Christmas, they were also having a big sale on Blu Ray discs, so I snapped up some great flicks at Low-Hanging-Fruit prices. When all was said and done, I had a player and 10 movies to watch on it, so by way of posting my first Oh-So-Cliched Top Ten list, I would run down the first 10 Blu Ray's of my collection and why I picked them up, besides the obvious "They were on Sale" answer. Let's start at the beginning with...

1) Red Cliff: Original International Version


This was the movie I got for Christmas. I have yet to watch the FOUR HOUR international version, but I was in love with this film from the moment I knew it existed. Set in one of the most personally interesting eras of history for me, the Three Kingdoms era in second and third century China, and Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro of House of Flying Daggers fame and Tony Leung of Hero fame, this one is a no brain-er for me.

2) Hellboy


This was definitely in the Cheap category, but that doesn't change the fact that this Guiermo Del Toro helmed action fest is a lot of fun, often humorous, and Ron Perlman is perfectly cast as the titular Hellboy. Also, Kronen is a BA!

3) The Wrestler


I don't even want to get started on the validity of Pro Wrestling, it's a doomed argument. But when it comes down to it, this touching tale has less to do with wrestling and more to do with the Human Experience. Mickey Rourke is staggeringly good, as always, playing Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a man who once had it all thanks to his career. Now he has come to realize that his world fell apart around him as the consequences of his old life haunt him. It's subtle, simple, and magnificently shot. If you skip this one because it involves wrestling, you are doing yourself a disservice.

4) Army Of Darkness
What can I say, I'm a sucker for one-liners, and this camp classic is chock full of em. Behold!

This sequel to the Evil Dead movies is unabashed Bruce Campbell goodness and I love every minute of it! Klatuu. Barada. (Cough)to!

5) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas


Based on the autobiographical book of the same name by the late Dr. Hunter S Thompson, this film covers a three day 'trip' to Las Vegas the good Dr. once took with his friend and lawyer. Loaded with hilarious lines, inspired performances, and psychedelic special effects, this film demonstrates what a spectacular director Terry Gilliam really is.

6) Inception


The naysayers of this Christopher Nolan Directed thriller will argue that a Complicated is not always a good plot. I say, shut up and watch the movie, naysayers. This is honestly one of the best movies I've seen in the last few years, and DiCaprio continues to win me over with another chilling performance.

7) The Last Samurai


You really have to love Ignorance sometimes. A lot of people dislike this movie because "Tom Cruise is the last Samurai," even though Cruise isn't the last Samurai, Ken Watanabe's character Katsumoto is. The irony being that the only reason Tom Cruise was put in this movie based on a true story that involved no westerners is because American audiences wont see a movie with an all Japanese cast in the theaters, unless you count Art houses. We need a white guy in there, because we can't relate to Asians. God, pisses me off just thinking about.

That being said, Tom Cruise dose an excellent job playing the part of the westerner's eye in this retelling of Dai Saigo's Last Stand.

8) Huo Yuanjia - AKA Jet Li's Fearless


Touted at the time as Jet Li's final Martial Arts film, this still stands, in my mind at least, as one of the greatest Wushu films. While the fights are epic and numerous, the story is the real reason I love this film so much, and Jet Li's acting is superb.

9) A Clockwork Orange


I honestly can't think of any way to describe this film. It is largely a procession of unsettling images of a dystopian future but the underlying story of law and lawlessness is potent. A darkly comic classic.

10) The Princess Bride


Do I even need to explain? one of my all time favorite movies.

Well, that's the list, now I think I'll go watch one of them. Anyone else remember their first Blu Ray/DVD/VHS?