Evan T. Reviews Transformers: Dark of the Moon!

They pushed it up and released it early so you get the early review! Fresh off the midnight release, here's a review.

If you remember from last movie we learned something about the transformers, some government douche doesn't want the Autobots in America, Sams mom says something crraazzyy, Megatron played second banana to a new baddie and Sam yells "Bumblebee" and "Optimus" several times. Now that you are caught up, you're ready for Dark of the Moon. This movie we learn something about the transformers, some government douche doesn't want the Autobots in America,  Sams mom says something crraazzyy, Megatron played second banana to a new baddie and Sam yells "Bumblebee" and "Optimus" several times. Even with that this movie is easily a huge advancement over the last.

The story in this movie is SO much easier to follow and makes the bare minimum of sense required for me to like a movie. There was a new writer for this movie because the the writers (Yeah, two people wrote that last flick) of the last two movies thought they might risk getting stale. One movie too late, guys.

Most of the main characters return with a couple of notable exceptions. The Autobot Twins, Mudflap and Skids, are thankfully absent from this film. As the Jar Jar Binks of this franchise I was happy to see them gone. I was not, however, happy to see Megan Fox gone. I'm a big fan of her, um, her "work". Yeah, her "work" Something went down whether you believe that Micheal "Baysplosions" Bay dropped her or it was The Spielberg himself she's gone and now the female costar is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and her lips. They do as well as Megan did. Not a whole lot of acting prowess needed but she is good looking. Good work casting agents!

I didn't read a lot about this movie and went in a little blind. I was happy to see Patrick Dempsey (who easily produces the best acting on screen), John Malkovich, Alan Tudyk and Ken Jeong in the film. A fair amount of comedy finds it's way into the movie but it doesn't feel forced. Transformers: Dark of the Moon also steps up the robot carnage with different colored liquids used as blood flying from laser shots and a full on execution of a robot on screen.

Also of note are "The Wreckers", a trio of Autobots who transform into N.A.S.C.A.R. cars that have guns all over them. There is something spectacularly 'Merican about that and I really loved that. Also braking the tradition of import vehicles being Decepticons is Mirage, a Ferrari 458 Italia, who speaks with an Italian accent. So fantastic. Oh, don't worry, there are still import Decepticons, most notably Soundwave who has become a Mercedes SLS AMG. Hmmm, maybe it's just the German automobiles who are evil? Last movie there was Sideswipe, an Audi R8. At least they are bad ass cars...

All in all it was a good film and if you enjoy the series or want a nice action movie check it out.If nothing else, you will see John Malkovich play fight with a giant robot.

BONUS- A few posts back Carly expressed her thoughts on why she doesn't go to see movies in the theater. I understood but I have that same feeling right about now. I had a fantastically obnoxious couple who sat next to me at the midnight showing of the new Transformers movie. I definitely felt enriched by the whole experience. When I thought, before the movie started, that I would have to deal with these two people all night I was unhappy. Then their two friends came in and sat in the row in front of them. The friends gave great thoughts on the need for popcorn and added a interesting smell to the theater. Like cheese and peanut butter. Their running commentary and insightful quips of "Damn", "Wow" and "That's Shockwave. He's a whole big ass robot" really increased my enjoyment of the movie. But not nearly as much as constantly being touched by the fat girlfriend as she lumbered around in her seat. She only knocked my drink bottle over twice. While I wont go Carlys route I will be more careful of where I sit, for sure.

Movie Review: Red Riding Hood

Okay, so I finally got around to watching "Red Riding Hood". I wanted to see it in the theaters, but as we all know, it's VERY difficult, if not impossible to get the Carlymonster into an actual theater to see a movie. Also, the reviews came back saying it was TERRIBLE, so I put if off for a while. Low expectations are the key to being pleasantly surprised.

I was surprised by two things when I was done watching this movie; 1) that I ended up liking it as much as I did, and 2) that "Twilight" got a better IMDB rating than this. The acting wasn't great, but I think Amanda Seyfried is an infinitely more talented actress than the cardboard-like Kristen Stewart, whose acting skills range from looking like she's confused, to looking like she's holding in a fart.

"Wait, what?"

Although the acting was less than stellar, I still found the story to be really fun. It was a pretty awesome take on a classic fairy tale. It's basically a supernatural whodoneit with werewolves. Of course there is a pretty girl who is torn between two boys, but I still find that kind of story cute.

Honestly, and I never thought I'd ever say this, the movie could have used more violence. I'm used to watching HBO, where they have no problem showing a horse getting it's head lobbed off, so the ridiculous killing scenes fell a little flat with me. But that's what you get with a PG-13 teen-drama-horror movie. "30 Days of Night" it is not, but I still enjoyed it.

The scenes were very pretty too, which is no surprise since Catherine Hardwicke directed it. Catherine is the person who directed the first "Twilight" movie, and the cinematography was the ONLY thing I liked about that steaming pile.

I wanted to get a boys opinion on the movie, but The Editor was at hockey this evening, and I wouldn't subject him to it anyway. I think if you like vampire and werewolf stories, and you're willing to offer a little forgiveness in the acting department, you'll like this. Especially if you're a girl.

P.S. You can dress her up, and give her all the serious roles in the world, but Amanda Seyfried will always be Karen Smith to me....

Carly on Comics Movie Review: Paul

Happy Monday everyone! All of the Carly on Comics members came together last night to watch a viewing of the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost film "Paul", and it was fabulous.

"Paul" is a movie about two British guys (Frost and Pegg) who go on holiday in America. Their first trip is to San Diego Comic Con, and from there, the pair decide to rent a Winnebago and drive cross country, visiting different UFO hotspots on their way. What they didn't expect was an alien encounter of their own.

Paul is an alien whose spaceship crashed on Earth in the 1940's and has been living at Area 51 ever since. He's outlived his usefulness to the government, and now the government wants to harvest his brain for science. Naturally, Paul steals a car, gets into an accident, and meets Frost and Pegg on the road.

The threesome becomes a foursome when Kristen Wiig's (looooove her) God-loving character, Ruth, joins the team via her (accidental) kidnapping.

The foursome is trying to get Paul back to Wyoming so that he can meet up with his people who are there to rescue him, all the while being chased by not only Ruth's father, but the FBI as well.

It's a super cute buddy film with an all-star cast. You've got Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (whom I've professed my love for for quite sometime now), Kristen Wiig (who has quickly become my newest girl crush), Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Jeffrey Tambor, and many more. Also, the voice talents of Seth Rogan as Paul.

If you're a nerd, you will love this movie. There are so many awesome references to things in geek culture, including a particularly awesome music piece that is played when they're in a bar. I was afraid that I'd be too distracted with the CG alien, but it wasn't bad at all. Chances are, if you read this blog, you won't be disappointed. The language can get a little rough at times, but overall, it was a fantastic movie.

Holy Crap! It's another Evan T Review! X-Men: First Class

So, yeah. No one in my unique and fantastic circle of friends was giving this movie any chance at all of being anything better than Superman IV: The Quest For Peace or Batman and Robin. I mean, aside from me. I took a cautiously optimistic, wait and see approach. Well I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.

First off they had a trailer for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and man, I hadn't really had that movie on my radar but a combination of James Franco and crazy monkey army attack has got me excited. Looks like fun and an interesting take on the franchise. The Planet of the Apes could use it after the movie was Burton-ized and really just turned into a suck souffle. Anyways, here's hoping.



As we all know already this is the story of a young Charles Xavier and a young Erik Lehnsherr meeting each other and making sweet mutant love...wait, no, that's a slashfic. My bad. It is the story of young Professor X and Magneto before they were all Professor X and Magneto. It's actually a very nice "I'm sorry for X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine". For anyone who is thinking I'm all full of it - Rotten Tomatoes score for those movies are 57% and 37% versus 86%.

The idea of using the Cuban Missile Crisis as a backdrop is a really fantastic idea. It never feels like the movie was forced into being in the 60's but just coincidentally happened at the same time. Having characters not always seen in the various iterations of the X-Men throughout their movie and television careers is neat, too. Seeing Havok, a non-fuzzy Beast, Darwin (!) and Banshee not to mention Sebastian Shaw, Riptide and Azazel (had to look him up on Wikipedia) was a ton of fun. I really like Cyclops and always enjoy seeing him but getting the chance to see his brother was actually just as fun.

I was unaware what a January Jones was before this movie. I didn't watch Unknown or American Wedding or Mad Men (yes, yes, I know, I'm on it) but I have to say, I'm a fan. Especially if she runs around in outfits like she does in this flick. This movie even has a mutant power of it's own - Being the most boobtastic of them all. Swinging 60's and all.

The movie also has possibly the best cameo I have seen in a Marvel movie yet. You will know it when you see it....freaking great

(Note from Carly: Below is the cameo that Evan T. is talking about... Don't click if you don't want to see it!)



I saw this with my fam as my nieces choice for their birthday movie. J1 and J2 (13 years old) both really enjoyed the movie. After it was over, they both asked me if "the blue one" (Mystique) was a bad guy now to which I replied yeah (oh, gee, spoiled for anyone who has never read an X-Men book or seen any of the movies). They both seemed kinda bummed. If this movie brought actual emotions like that out of some kids who didn't know or give a diddly squat about X-Men, imagine how much you might like it.

Another Note from Carly: Despite what Evan T. may think, I do actually want to see this movie, because I'm totally gay for X-Men. However, due to my infinite pregnantness, and the fact that I HATE being in a large sea of people, I have to wait a week or two to watch it. If you're confused, please refer to my previous post. :-)

The Editor and Carly Go to the Movies (and Then Realize They've Made a Huge Mistake)

Hey kiddies! Sorry for being so neglectful with the posting lately. It's Summer, and it's beautiful, and we're having one of those "baby things" in six weeks, so I'm trying to pack in as many projects as I can before D-day. All that means is that I won't be posting as frequently, I will however try and stick to at LEAST an every other day schedule. I think between Evan T. and myself, we can pull that off.

So, there is a reason that Evan T. is my "just released" movie critic, and last night I was reminded why. Evan T. has this unique ability to not mind being anchovied into a movie theater with a bunch of idiots, whereas I just end up losing a little bit of humanity every time I decide to venture outside of my house to see a movie. The Editor and I had a free movie ticket that expired yesterday, and that is about the ONLY reason we went out on a Friday night to see a movie.

The movie we went to see was "Bridesmaids", which was very good. However, the people that a movie like "Bridesmaids" attracts, are the worst. We were surrounded by a bunch of chicks who didn't seem to know that they were in public, because they felt that they needed to A) constantly check their cell phone for the time, and B) explain the onscreen jokes to the other members of their party (eg: "OMG! There are NO lights on her car AT ALL!"). No shit Sherlock. That was the joke.

I hate being sandwiched in next to strangers as well. I believe I have expressed this displeasure in the past. I don't understand why, if I'm paying nearly $11 for a ticket, I have to be subjected to other people's ridiculousness. The guy I was next to wasn't bad last night, but it was amazing trying to watch him and his wife (who showed up just as the show was starting, so she she had to sit diagonally in front of him to make sure they could fill the theater to max capacity) try and communicate. It was like he was trying to land a plane. Outstanding.

Also, going to the movies makes me realize how shitty Hollywood is. It makes me realize that they make shitty movies, and they think that the public is a bunch of morons. I swear to God, two of the movie trailers we saw last night were for the same movie.

The first shitty movie we watched a preview was for a glorious turd called "Bad Teacher" starring Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake. If when you read those names, you said "OMG! I LOVE Justin Timberlake and/or Cameron Diaz!!!!", you should really not be on this website, and you should probably think about killing yourself.

Cameron Diaz is looking OLLLLLLLD. I realize that people do that. They age, but I feel like if you're doing it gracefully, you can pull it off. Ol' busted face Diaz is still trying to be a sex symbol, and it's just not working for me. Like, at all. And don't even get me started on Timberlake. I liked him in "The Social Network", but mainly because I feel like he didn't need to act. I sincerely feel that in real life, JT is probably an egotistical, narcissistic, asshole who thinks he's funny, and because he's so successful, everyone around him encourages his douchebaggery. I mean, you have to be a total shithead to be in a long term relationship with Jessica Biel, right?



This movie looks terrible. BUT people will go see it. And that makes me so sad. I made a bet with The Editor that it even makes #1 at the box office the week it comes out. It's coming out between "X-Men: First Class" and "Captain America", so that could very well happen.

The next shitty movie up for grabs is "Larry Crowne", which just basically looks like "Bad Teacher", only with people who used to be huge stars, and now just need a paycheck. I'm talking about Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks.



I know what you're thinking. "Carly, didn't I just watch a younger version of that trailer in the trailer above?". Answer: yes. Tom Hanks is the bumbling dork who can't catch a break. Julia Roberts is his hot professor. And guess what guys? THEY FALL IN LOOOOOOVEEEEE! *Barf* Really? Do you REALLY need to see this movie? I mean, how many times in a lifetime do you need to watch the same thing before you realize that Hollywood is just taking your money? *sigh*

BUT WAIT! It gets BETTER! *Sarcasm* The next steaming pile is called "The Change Up" starring Ryan Reynolds as a man whore, and Jason Bateman as a married guy. The two of them go out one night, drink a lot and then Jason Bateman wishes he were Ryan Reynolds and THEY SWITCH PLACES!! OMG! TOATZ ORIGINAL! Ugh, remember when they made this movie the first three times, and it was called "Freaky Friday"? I love Ryan Reynolds, and I have since "Two Guys and a Girl", but he's fast approaching on Anee Hathaway and Natalie Portman territory where it's like "How can I have time to miss you if you never go away?". I'm happy for these people because they're successful, but when they're cast in EVERY movie EVER made, it makes me tire of them rather quickly.



Yes! Finally! Another movie that shits all over marriage and having kids! OMG! It's the WORST! Amiright?!  Sleeping around like a manwhore when you're well into your thirties is so cool. The STD's alone are A-MAZ-ING! It's like playing Russian roulette with your dick! There are no redeeming qualities to having a partner and kids. I mean, your life ends when you get married, right? UGH. Movies like this piss me off to no end.

The last movie trailer we was was for a movie called "The Help" (based off of the book by the same name) starring Emma Stone. This is the only movie of the bunch that I'd actually go see. The tagline on IMDB is the following:


"A look at what happens when a southern town's unspoken code of rules and behavior is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship."

It's set in the 1960's in Mississippi, where African-American women were good enough to raise the rich white folks kids, but not good enough to use the same bathroom. Of all of the trailers I saw, this was the only one that made me want to see it. The Editor thinks that Emma Stone is going for the Oscar on this one too, because it's a period piece and she's uglied up in it. 



This is fast becoming my longest rant ever, so I'll try and wrap it up. To summarize:

*I will not go to another movie past 3 PM because I refuse to pay $11 to share an armrest with a stranger.

*If you are in a movie, you do NOT need to check your cell phone, so don't be an asshole and do it.

*I do not require a running commentary of the movie, so shut your fucking mouth.

*Any candy that is in a crinkly bag needs to be opened before the movie starts.

*Don't clap and cheer for the movie. They can't hear you. It's a movie.

*Respect the people sitting next to you. Just because you're a teenager (which generally makes you the most obnoxious person in the room) and your parents gave you money to go to the movies and get out of their house for two hours, respect the fact that some people work for a living, and $11 is a lot of money to spend wanting to punch you in the face.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll catch you when I can. xoxo

Jason Statham is the Shit.

Jason Statham is amazing. The way Evan T. feels about Vin Diesel is the way I feel about Jason Statham. I just watched "The Mechanic" and it was amazing. From co-star Ben Foster to the really cheesy CG blood, the movie was awesome. It was Jason Statham being Jason Statham.

The best part about "The Mechanic" is the mind fuck that J.S.' character gives to one of his boss' lackeys by making the guy think that J.S. put his daughters hand in the garbage disposal. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Also, when J.S. throws a guy out of a bus window, and the guy proceeds to get hit by a car is pretty amazing too. I'm pretty sure that I've gone far too long without virtually maiming something with a melee weapon, and that is why I found so much pleasure in these scenes. I'm usually not such a sick individual, I've just had a reeeeeally long weekend.

Did you know that Jason Statham was on the 1992 Olympic diving team for Great Britain? How about that he used to be a black market salesman? No? How about the fact that he was a male model? Yeah, that's right. Everything about Jason Statham is awesome. He is also British, which makes him infinitely more awesome than you (unless, of course, you're British).

Thank you.

Evan T.'s Long Overdue Review of FAST FIVE!

Okay, so originally I was not going to write a review for this movie as it didn't really fit into the CarlyOnComics mold. However, after being asked by She who will not be named (Carly) I sit here trying to find the words to express how amazing this movie is. As a preface to this, I should note I am a fan through and through and though normally that might get the better of me, you should still check out the review.

Do you remember how Christmas used to feel? When you were young and everything was just magical? Take that, multiply it by your first beer and multiply that by infinity. That is how FAST FIVE felt. As a long time fan of the franchise I had been excited to see what they would do for the newest installment. When I heard that it would be going in a different direction I had some trepidations, obviously.. Would they be destroying the franchise I had grown to love? Answer is NO, they just made it better.

Right now Marvel is doing a bunch of .1 issues as jumping on points for people who might not have been regular readers of a particular series. Well think of this movie as FAST FIVE.1 because you don't need any sort of previous knowledge of the films to have a great time at these flicks. Are there little Easter eggs for the fans? Yeah, you know it. But if you have never seen a Fast and Furious movie you can still see this movie and enjoy the holy heck out of it.

FAST FIVE is about Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) deciding that the life of on the run criminal will no longer do and they should end their running by pulling off a heist of a Brazilian drug lord and taking that money to start new lives. They wont be going alone, though, as they make the calls to former Fast and Furious costars to help them commit the crime. Standing in their way is Luke Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) a federal agent tasked with the capture of the fugitives.

As a fan of "Popcorn movies" this movie really just does everything you want it to do for the get go. It's funny and never stops entertaining. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a movie with Fast in the title doesn't have any slow spots. A couple of actions scenes, a great race through the city of Rio with a safe attached doing things I haven't ever thought about in a movie before and one of the best ending/wrap up scenes I have witnessed in recent memory. Danza Kuduro!

Even beyond my fanboy silliness this movie stands tall as a fun action movie fully deserving of your hard earned money. My favorite quote about this movie, and forgive me because i cannot remember where I saw it, is "Fast Five out-Bad Boys II Bad Boys II" That pretty much says it all.

Evan T. Reviews THOR!

Hey All. The E-Man here fresh of a midnight showing of Thor. I am bursting with excitement over the movie and am ready to impart upon you a review!

 Thor starts off much as the Marvel series started off. Thor, son of Odin, goes of to the land of the Frost Giants against the wishes of his father. The long time enemies of the Asgardians are attacked by Thor and his allies Sif, Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral. Also along is Thor's brother Loki. After discovering Thor's disobedience, Odin strips him of his power and banishes him to Midgard (aka Earth) to learn humility. From there the movie is a tale of redemption for Thor. Usually I do a pro/con list but in truth, I have NO CONS of legitimacy for this movie. I will post my one con and all the pros this movie has going for it.

 PROS:

 *Chris Hemsworth is going to be the next Sam Worthington - As soon as Mr. Hemsworth steps onto the scene you just WANT to watch this guy. He really has "it". As I was watching it I was thinking back to Terminator: Salvation. That movie doesn't have a lot going for it but Sam Worthington really works the shit out of his role in that move. I cannot imagine that Chris Hemsworth wont be getting a ton of work after this movie and I am totally prepared to watch what he does next. As for him in this movie there is no point where you don't believe this man is the god of thunder.

 *Green Lantern Trailer in 3D - Ok, so while not a part of the movie proper the new GL trailer is attached to this flick. And it is looking so so sooooo much better than the first trailers. I might actually be getting excited for that movie.

 *Freaking Hawkeye! - Ok, so that was a bit of a spoiler. The scene works a little something like this. Agent Coulson gets on the radio. "We need a man with a gun up there to take this guy (Thor) out." Switch scene to a armory with guns all hanging up. An arm comes into view, passing by a rifle and an assault rifle. The arm grabs a bow and off the agent goes. This one scene had me so geeked out I was not sure if my nerd boner would ever go back down. They refer to the agent as Clint, the name of Hawkeye. Avengers, we are full steam ahead!

This movie has everything - Looking for a little comic relief? Yup, this movie has that and it never gets in the way of the rest of the story. Want some action/adventure? How abotu battling frost giants and SHIELD agents? Cause this movie has that. Looking for a little geek recognition? Oh yeah, you are going to see some easter eggs in this flick (The Eye of Aggamoto, Cosmic Cube, Dr. Donald Blake, etc). This movie really has it going on

Everyone in this movie is good, man - As I have said Thor is amazing. But the rest of the cast is fantastic as well. I'm not sure if it's Kenneth Branagh as the director really pulling the performance out of the cast or maybe they just really assembled an amazing group of actors but there is no week performance to point out. Odin, Loki, Sif and Hiemdall really stand out as great supporting roles.

CONS:

 *No Balder - I am a fan of Balder the brave and was just a smidgen disappointed to not see him. I can understand if they had to choose between Balder and the Warriors Three then it was a good choice. Guess I'll just have to wait for Thor 2: Electric Bugaloo.

All in all this movie is a fantastic kickoff to the super hero movie season. It hits on all cylinders. I suggest you see it, see it in 3D, see it in IMAX, just get out there and see this flick!

P.S. - I am in love with Sif. You know, I'm just sayin.

Summer Movie Meltdown

So The Editor, Evan T., myself and a couple of other nerds got into a heated discussion last Nerd Night regarding the upcoming Summer superhero movies. The question posed was "Which movie will do awesome, and which one(s) will flop?". I really need to invest in some sort of audio recorder, because the conversation was so dorky and got so much nerd rage going, that I feel I need to share it with the world. Anyhoo, here were our findings...

The movies that were worthy of making this list were; X-Men: first Class, Thor, Captain America and Green Lantern. The boys all picked their pony and the findings were very interesting.

The movies ended up basically in two categories, top of the list and bottom of the list. We were all in agreement that Thor and Cap would be in the top 2, and X-Men and Green Lantern would be in the bottom two. My personal thoughts top grossing to least grossing are as follows: Captain America, Thor, Green Lantern, X-Men.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE fan of Ryan Reynolds, and also a HUGE fan of DC, but lets face it, besides the Dark Knight franchise, DC isn't exactly making the best superhero movies. I mean, I LOVED Watchmen, but I can totally understand why people didn't. It was marketed as something it wasn't, and it was too smart for a lot of moviegoers. The story should have been told on screen 20 years ago when it had more relevance. Also, just watching the Green Lantern trailer makes me cringe a little. I think that the hokey factor is through the roof, and anyone who isn't familiar with the source material is going to be sitting there going "Why the 'ef did I just pay $10 to see a talking squirrel, and a bunch of dudes who can be killed by the color yellow?".





Again, DC misses the mark. They have every opportunity to make some kick ass stuff, but they don't listen to their audience. For the 1,000,000th time I ask, "Why no Wonder Woman movie?". Dudes would TOTALLY go out to watch a hot chick in tight clothes kicking ass, and girls would watch because, hell, it's friggen' Wonder Woman! I mean, lets look at the new upcoming Superman movie for a second. Once again, from what I understand, we will be told Clark Kent's origin story. Ew. I mean, really? Can't we just do it Superman:Earth One style and just address it in flashbacks? Or maybe take a cue from the newest Hulk movie, and do the origin in the opening credits? Until DC starts listening to its fans, they're not going to be able to beat Marvel at the box office. Plain and simple.

Next up on the chopping block is X-Men: First Class. I'm a HUGE X-Men fan, but *YAAAAAAAWN*. I really don't care. I mean, literally I could. Not. Give. A. Shit. I like my X-Men, I like their stories, I don't really give a rats ass about their origin. I think it being set in the 60's is a bad move because the plot is going to be lost on a lot of their core audience. You think that a 10 to 18 year old is going to understand the historical ramifications of what is going on in that time period? Try and ask a 14 year old who Celine Dion is, and they'll look at you like "Who the 'ef is that?". It's nice that they feel that we need a whole movie explaining Eric and Xavior's history, but I think the vast majority of people just want to see the X-Men kicking ass and taking names. Also, as pretty as she is, I've watched "Mad Men" and I'm reeeeeeally wondering in January Jones has the acting chops to pull off Emma Frost. I just hope we don't turn this into another "X-Men 3"...



Which brings me to Thor. Hmmmmm.... Evan T. seems to think that this will be the movie to win big at the box office. I disagree because at the end of the day, who really gives a shit about Thor? I mean that in the nicest way possible. I have NEVER been tempted to pick up a Thor comic. Not ever. I like Norse gods and fantasy and medieval, mythical settings, I just am not in the least bit excited to see this. I think it will do well at the box office because Thor is an Avenger and when they make the Avengers movie, I have a feeling that we'll be seeing him again, so we'll want to learn what we can about him and how it ties to the franchise. I think kids will like this movie because it seems like fun. There's a hammer and a god of thunder, and all sorts of cool fantasy type backgrounds, so I think it allows your imagination to run away with you a little more since it is not necessarily completely grounded in reality. One last little sidenote about the casting in this one: I honestly used to LOVE Natalie Portman, but she has now reached Zoe Saldana territory for me. I'm soooo tired of seeing her in every movie I watch. I'm hoping that she pops this kid out and disappears for a while, so I can miss her and begin to mend my love for her again.



Last but not least, there is Captain America. Love him or hate him, Cap has always been an A-lister in the Marvel world. His story is fantastic, albeit a little "Austin-Powers"ish, but at the end of the day Cap is a mans man. He is one of the leaders of the Avengers, and he has old timey values, just like one of the most beloved DC figureheads, Superman. He believes in truth, justice and the American way. I think the combination of story, likable actors, and the fact that he has the word "America" in his title, will make this the blockbuster. Also, if you watch the trailer, you see Steve Rogers as a weak, dorky looking guy who wants to fight for his country, and gets rejected because he's too small. He volunteers for the super soldier project and becomes a powerhouse! It's the classic "ugly duckling to swan" scenario, and who doesn't want to see that? Of all of the trailers I watched, this one was the only one that gave me goosebumps. Also, three words "Tommy Lee Jones".



I'll have to ask my authority on comic book movies what he thinks about all of these movies to really be able to see where the cards will most likely fall. My authority is my 9 year old nerd buddy, Clark, who lives across the street and he's awesome.Anyhoo, I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I'm sorry for dumping a huge post on you this early in the week, but I've been storing all of these thoughts since last Wednesday, so I had a lot to say. Have a super week, and I'll blog ya back here tomorrow!

Evan T. Goes to the Movies! Battle: Los Angeles

Movie season is kicking it up into high gear and the movies are coming quick out the gate. I'm going to give a little review of Battle: Los Angeles. If you will remember the summer movie rundown I did a little while back and this was one I was getting excited about. Standard movie reviewing will apply.

Action From the Word Go - Battle: Los Angeles (I'm going to abbreviate that to B:LA) does not make you wait long to get into the action. Much like the movie B:LA was being compared to before it's release, Black Hawk Down, B:LA gives you a quick, quick background and goes right to the Marines vs aliens fighting. it runs with that for the rest of the film so if you are an action junkie all you have to do is get through the first 12 minutes and you are going to be on the ride for the rest of the time. The fights are shot gritty, like a war movie. If this is the face of the new alien invasion flick I can't wait to see what else comes.


Everyone Plays Their Part Well - There is not any new ground being broken here, story wise. I will debate anyone, however, on the fact that all the cookie cutter roles are played well by the actors in those roles. Gritty seargant? Check. Green new lieutenant? Check. Tough as nails female? Check. Kid in a war who needs protecting? Check. All your favorites are there. The actors and actresses in the rolse really just make it all work for your viewing pleasure. No award winning stuff but noting that is bad bad bad.


America....F#&K Yeah! - This movie is a total 'Merica movie. I really dig that. I've been waiting a while for a military movie that is like something from the 80's where it was America rules, suck it! I might be in a total minority here but I totally loved that part so much, it was really really fun for me.


All told I loved this flick and I would see it again in a second. It's a great popcorn flick and if you go into it knowing that you will not be dissapointed, I guarentee it. Man, you are gonna have fun watching the movie, for sure. Aliens suck, go U.S.A!

Sucker Punch Sunday!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the mini-break I took yesterday! We had a down router, and I was unable to get you your daily dose of Carly. Thanks to The Editor's amazing electronic and mechanical prowess, we're back and running on all cylinders. I promised you a review, so here we go!

What can I say about Sucker Punch? I'm reading reviews online to try and help myself make a little more sense of it, but I feel like it's getting worse reviews than what it should. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't THAT bad! Let's break it down a little further...

The Good Stuff

Visually, it was stunning. All of Zach Snyders movies are. I knew going into this that the story wasn't great, but I knew I'd be entertained, and I certainly was. The fantasy worlds were absolutely fantastic, and in the words of Evan T., I felt like I was watching a live action anime. The girls were all gorgeous as well, so that just added to the prettiness of the rest of the movie.

I know that people are shitting all over the story as well, and honestly, the more I started thinking about it, the more I liked it. The story is about a girl, Baby Doll, whose mother dies, and leaves everything she has to Baby Doll and her sister. This infuriates her step-father who thought it would all go to him. Step dad gets drunk, goes to hurt Baby Doll, and instead decides to go after her younger sister. The step-father kills the sister, and pins it on Baby, which leads to her going to a mental hospital.

In the mental hospital is where the story begins to get a litte confusing. There are two different dream worlds going on. Baby creates the dream worlds to escape the real-world and the abuse she and the other girls are facing at the hands of the employees of the institution. Baby comes up with a plan to try and help herself and some of the girls escape.

Through a series of "adventures" the girls try and acquire everything needed to leave the facility. In the end, only one girl makes it out, and it is her responsibility to then "live for the rest of the girls".

It sounds pretty good on paper, right? Now lets look at

The Bad Stuff

The movie didn't know what it wanted to be. Did it want to be a drama? An expose of mental institutions in the 1960's? A sweet action flick? It was all of those things, and that was a problem. It made the story incredibly hard to understand. It's almost as if Snyder had all of these ideas for what he wanted in a movie, and just decided to mash them all together. It tended to take you out of the story at times. It wanted to be a little Girl Interrupted, while also wanting to be a little bit Inception, and that is where things fell flat to me.

The Ugly Stuff

The girls were absolutely beautiful, however, some of them had a rough time with the acting. For the most part, I liked Emily Browning as Baby Doll. She was like a less-irritating version of Paris Hilton to me. She has a super sweet girl voice what could get a little grating at times, but generally I liked her. Abby Cornish (Sweet Pea), Jamie Chung (Amber) and Jenna Malone (Rocket) all did an awesome job. Vanessa Hudgens (Blondie) though? Yikes. She had the look down, that's for sure. She played a dirty-hot girl amazingly. However, I'm not sure of it's due to her Disney upbringing, but the girl can't act. There was more than one scene in the movie where it was her turn to take the spotlight and shine, and she was SO bad that it literally took you out of the movie for a minute. She is a gorgeous girl, but she should stick to bubble-gummy Disney stuff until she's ready to take on something a little more serious.

All in all, I would give it a nice solid B-. I wouldn't spend $10 to go see it in the theater, but it'll be worth the watch on Blu Ray. That way, if you like it, you'll enjoy the visuals on your HDTV, and if you hate it, you won't be pissed that you spent $10. I will continue to go see Zach Snyders movies because if nothing else, they're entertaining and nice to look at. Some film critics are saying things like "THIS is the guy the studios trust to make the next Superman movie?!" To that I say, it can't be any worse than the last one, and even if the story falls flat, there will still be lots of cool things to look at.

Crazy Carly's Weekly Rant...

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a better day than we are here in Upstate New York! I spent the first 20 minutes of my day trying to pry The Editors car door open with no success. After the warm, but rainy day yesterday, of course Mother Nature feels the need to squash any feelings about nice weather we might have but dumping like, an inch of ice and 3 inches of snow on us. YUCK. I've decided that once The Editor and I need to upgrade house size, we are sooooo moving this show to California. Sure, they may have a crap economy just like New York, but at least they have nice weather there, so it doesn't make you feel quite as bad about it. And I know, you're like "But Caaaaarly, they have EARTHQUAKES in California!". To that I say, at least I don't have to own a snow brush.

As you can see, I'm on quite the ranting roll already this morning. The past two days I've just woken up crabby as all heck, and it hasn't gotten better. I blame it on cabin fever and progesterone. Today, we're going to talk about the movies, and why I prefer staying at home to going out to a movie 100 to 1.

Saturday night The Editor, Cara M., Evan T. and myself went to see a movie. We're kind-of nerds, so we thought we'd start watching all of the Oscar nominated films of the past year, starting with the winner: The Kings Speech. My review of the movie is as such: It was wonderful. I love British things, I LOVE Helena Bonham Carter and Colin Firth, and they has Corgis in it. Corgis are the best dog ever, so I was happy. The movie centers around King George IV and overcoming his speech impediment before he becomes king. It's a fantastic movie, that in my opinion deserved the Oscars it won. If you're a history geek like me, you'll like it even more.

There were a few things I didn't like. Not about the movie, but about the movie going experience. There are reasons that the "old way" of Hollywood trying to make money is failing, and I would like to touch on those reasons just a little.

1) Limited Seating- Okay, so , we show up at the movie about 20 minutes in advance for the 6:10 show. I think that is a perfectly reasonable time to show up for a movie that has been out for give-or-take 2 months now. Anyhoo, we show up, and of course, there is like, no seating. We quietly take our seats in the lower section closer to the screen, and get ready to be King's-speeched. Well, riiiiiight about the time the movie starts, an usher announces that they've sold out the show, so we're all going to have to squish together. Yeah, $12.50 for a ticket where I have to sit right next to a dude who not only picks his face, and bites his nails through the movie, but also feels a need to crack his knuckles and take up all of the arm room too. I. Hate. Awful. People.

2) Commercials- Ugh. I don't have to deal with these at home, why the 'ef do I have to deal with them at the movies? I don't even pay for cable, yet, I pay to watch commercials before a movie. Remember the good ol' days when they just ran trailers for like, 45 minutes before the show started? That was awesome.

3) Movie Placement- Please, for the love of God, don't ever put an action movie next to a drama. The Adjustment Bureau was playing in the theatre next to us, and it was suuuuper hard to concentrate on a dialogue based movie when you could hear the explosions happening in the theater next to you.

4) Children in Inappropriate Aged Group Movies- You run into this ALL the time. The worst offender I can remember is when a man trotted his toddlers into The Dark Knight and they proceeded to scream and cry the whole time. For real? You couldn't get a babysitter? You couldn't just wait the two months for the Bluray? As cute as you think your kids are, there is a time and a place for kids. If they're under 10, that place is at a PG movie. No exceptions. I don't care if you think your kids can be "intellectually challenged" by this movie, the rest of us just put up half a tanks worth of gas to see this movie, and your child should not have to be tolerated. Furthermore, The Kings Speech received an R rating?! WTF?! There was no nudity, no violence, and the only cussing was done in a way that was part of his therapy. I love our puritanical society...

Don't get me wrong, I love going to the movies for the most part. To me, it's less about the commercials, and the ticket prices, and more about the people around me that can totally ruin the experience. I love being able to get out of the house with my friends, and seeing something on the big screen and all of that. However, with ticket prices through the roof, and the fact that I have an 55 inch LCD TV in my living room, I've decided that my house is a much more desirable location to watch a movie. No screaming kids, no commercials, and no gross strangers sitting next to me. Just me, some reasonably priced snacks and the people I love. Oh, and I can pause the movie if I need to pee.

Review Time with Evan T.

Review time! Review time! Who dey gonna find to review? Evan T!

Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam is the latest in the DC animated originals. Unlike the previous entries Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam is a combination of shorts. The previously unreleased Superman/Captain Marvel story headlines and shines all over.

The animation is smooth and crisp. It is slightly stylized to me. A marriage of traditional american hero animation and japanese anime. Here's the kicker: It's neither. It's Korean. The story is an origin story for the good captain. Simple storytelling in the classic four color style, it's a really enjoyable watch.

One of my favorite parts of the animated short is a truly inspired bit of casting. Arnold Vosloo (you may know him as the mummy Imhotep from The Mummy films, Zartan from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra or our supremely geeky reads will know him as the titular hero Darkman from the two darkman sequels) as Black Adam. I wouldn't have thought of it but seeing it in action it seems so simple. I even believed that Black Adam looked like he was given some subtle cues of Mr. Vosloo in the animated character. Really good stuff. I have yet to be disappointed by DC's animation.

The rest of the DC Showcase animated shorts: DC Showcase: The Spectre, DC Showcase: Jonah Hex, and DC Showcase: Green Arrow are all fantastic. They were included in previous releases as extras and are all collected here in extended versions. I felt that all of them are fantastic and I really wish they were full length, especially the Green Arrow one. Knocked my socks off.

I totally recommend this purchase to anyone who might not have the other shorts on their parent discs and even if you do, you will find something for you on this compilation. There are some commentaries on all the shorts and a few Bruce Timm selections from Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: The Brave and The Bold and Justice League: Unlimited that correspond with the stars of the shorts. Give it a shot and you will not be disappointed.

Cloudy with a Chance...

In light of all of the recent weather phenomenon (birds falling from the sky, fish unexplainably dying...) I decided I would flash back to 2009, and watch a great movie about weather phenomenon; "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".

I know that this is turning into "Carly on Movies" a little lately, but it's wintertime, and the majority of my comic reading takes place in the warmer weather. This was the first time I have ever watched "Cloudy", and I loved it. It's based on the children's book of the same name. The movie is about Flint, a kid who wants to be a scientist and make a name for himself. Flint manages to do so by creating a machine that turns water into food. After a while, his machine begins to take a beating, and creating food-weather that is destructive. Flint must then destroy his machine to save the world.



The movie is pretty fantastic, as I can imagine the book is. It will make you super hungry, and if you're anything like me, it will make you wish you had a house made out of Jell-o.



With the voice talents of some of my favorite actors (Anna Ferris, Neil Patrick Harris, James Caan, and Bruce Campbell to mane a few), this movie will have you laughing like crazy. There is so much geekdom to the movie it's amazing, and I dare you not to smile when Flint tells Sam (his love interest) how beautiful she is when she has on her nerd glasses.

Movies!!! By Evan T.

Hey All. I understand that the Chief has laid out the movies she it excited about coming out this summer. I'm going to try and touch on some movies she hasn't. With one exception...

(All movie descriptions come courtesy of IMDB, the movie website of choice for nerds in the know)

Battle: Los Angeles - March 11

The Plot: A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion of Los Angeles.

This is, I'm hoping, the movie Skyline should have been. This is a flick I have been checking out for a while and I am really pumped. Everything I have read about this movie says Black Hawk Down with aliens. Since Black Hawk Down is fantastic and aliens make every movie better I can't wait. I've wanted a gritty alien invasion movie since Independence Day. (I cannot type Independence Day without also typing "Welcome to Earf!) Also Aaron Eckhart is in the lead and that guy is money.



Your Highness - April 8

The Plot: A fantasy-comedy about an arrogant, lazy prince (McBride) who must complete a quest in order to save his father's kingdom.

OK, so first off, Natalie Portman is having a bang up string of movies. Good on ya, Miss Portman. (Part of why I love Natalie Portman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpMPFGBtE7Q) This movie reunites James Franco and Danny McBride. While Danny McBride could read the phone book and I'd show up the red band trailer of this movie had me laughing out loud. It looks like it will finally marry comedy and fantasy well.



Fast Five - April 29

The Plot: A federal agent (Johnson) is dispatched to Rio de Janeiro, where former cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) an ex-con Dom Toretto (Diesel) are assembling a final race as a desperate chance to gain their freedom.

I know this isn't really nerdy. I know. While I am sure Carly and The Editor wont be with me I will be making a pilgrimage to the closest real IMAX theater for this one. What, you have a movie that combines my three hetero man crushes (Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and my second favorite franchise?? Yeah, sign me up please.




Thor - May 6

Ok, ok. So Carlz is not thinking that Kenneth freakin Branagh can bring it. The most important part of this movie, for me, was the casting of Thor and I really like this Chris Hemsworth dude. He works. Plus Natalie Portman comes up again. I think that Thor has good odds and will have great momentum that will really make this a big movie. I really think Green Lantern, which is one of my favorite heroes, looks like drek. And the costume....really WB? Really?

Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - May 20

The Plot: After crossing paths with a woman from his past (Cruz), Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) is swept aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (McShane), on an unexpected mission to find the elusive fountain of youth.


Captain Jack Sparrow is, thinking quickly, the only character in recent films I would want to watch across 6 films. Johnny Depp has been waiting for this role forever. The first movie in a new series focusing on the good captain starts a new trilogy and I cannot not be entertained by these films. And I will be fixing the fact that Carly hasn't seen these flicks soon



Super 8 - June 10

The Plot: Set in 1979, an alien entity en route from Area 51 to a facility in Ohio breaks free from captivity.

Say what you will about Cloverfield (I liked it) but part of the fun of that film was NOT knowing absolutely everything about the film from the trailer. J.J. Abrams did a great job of keeping any info on the downlow and that really made it exciting. Old time movie going before the Age of Information. I totally trust that this movie will blow people away.



Transformers: Dark of the Moon - July 1

The Plot: Against the backdrop of the space race between the U.S.S.R. and the USA, the alliance between Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) and Optimus Prime is put to the test against a common enemy: Shockwave.

Sometimes I like to go and get into a good ol' fashion popcorn movie. Micheal Bay and his Baysplosions always seem to do it for me. Listen people, what are you expecting from a Transformers movie? We got what we wanted from the animated movie and the last two live action movies have had giant robots fighting. Get real, get over your pretentious art snob sensibilities and have some fun with me on the first of July.




Captain America: The First Avenger - July 22


The Plot: After being deemed unfit for military service during WWII, Steve Rogers (Evans) volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty -- a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals. His first mission: to combat the Nazi propaganda effort headed by Johann Schmidt (Weaving), also known as the Red Skull.

I'm surprised this wasn't brought up already. Chris Evans has sold me, from pics, he can be Cap. Hugo Weaving keeps trying to get away from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and cement his ability to show up at cons for life (The Matrix, The Lord of The Rings, Transformers, V for Vendetta). We know Joe Johnston can do this kind of film (Go watch The Rocketeer again and tell me I'm wrong). Cap, like Superman, has been a character I have always liked and really admired that they kept him this shining beacon of what a good person can be.


Note from Carly: Dear Evan,
Please read my post on Cap from yesterday ;-)
xoxo,
Carly


BONUS!!!
Real Steel - October 7

The Plot: A boxing drama set in the near-future where 2,000-pound robots that look like humans do battle.


Yeah, it's out of the summer movie schedule but it is geeky and it has Hugh Jackman and fighting robots. I saw a trailer for this bad boy on Io9 a few weeks back and immediately became interested. I'm interested to see where they go with this one. I'll check back in when we learn more about it.

Nerdy Movies that I'm Super Pumped for in 2011 Part Two

Hello hello! Now that we've looked at the movies I'm excited for for the first half of the year, lets take a look at the rest of 2011!


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (7/15)- It's the climax to everything you've been waiting for in this series for the past 10 years. It's the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort, and it won't come without casualties.



Captain America: The First Avenger (7/22)- Chris Evans stars in this movie, which, that sentence alone gets me on board. I'm super excited to see the more conservative side to Marvel's liberal Tony Stark. I think it will be quite interesting. Below is the IMDB synopsis:


After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals. 

It sounds sorta boring, but it should be action packed, and full of fun. This is where the Avengers movie will really start to gain speed as well, because very soon we will see all of these awesome characters together in one amazing ensamble.


Cowboys and Aliens (7/29)- John Favreau directs this cowboy/alien mashup, so you know it's going to be action- packed! Here's what IMDB had to say about it:

A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys are all that stand in their way. 

With actors like Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Sam Rockwell, it's sure to be a fun movie at very least. Olivia Wilde is in the movies as well, and she always keeps the boys drooling.





The Thing (10/14)- This prequal to the original "thing" movie will certainly be scary and suspenseful. I don't know a whole lot about the original "Thing", but this one sounds like it will be a lot of fun.


Paleontologist Kate Lloyd joins a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across a crashed extraterrestrial spaceship buried in the ice of Antarctica. She discovers a creature that seems to have died in the crash eons ago.

When an experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate joins the crew's pilot, Carter, to keep it from killing them and taking them over one at a time, using its ability to perfectly mimic any lifeform it touches, and eventually reaching civilization.

My sister-in-law-to-be did the casting on this movie, so I'm hoping it will be great!

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part One (11/18)- Ugh. If there is anything that I'm totally over, it's this. The only reason I'd watch this movie *spoilers!* is to watch the baby claw its way out of Bella's stupid gut. I mean, really? How the hell did she get knocked up by the dead guys sperm? C'mon.... The issue with Twilight is that, admittedly, I really liked the first three books. The last book, I was like "WTF was Stephanie Meyer smoking when she wrote this pile?". I don't care for the movies at all either. Kristen Stewart is unwatchable, and there is no chemistry between anyone on that set, I don't care if they are all banging back stage. I guess we'll see what this movie brings, but I can imagine that the violent death/resurrection of Bella isn't going to be played out the way I have it in my head...

Evan T. will be on tomorrow, sharing his opinions on the upcoming 2011 movies, and talking about some of the movies I left off because I either A) don't care (eg: Transformers 3), B) because I've never seen the previous movies (eg: Pirates of the Caribbean), or C) I don't really know what they're about (eg: Super 8). Enjoy your Friday, and I'll blog ya tomorrow!

Nerdy Movies that I'm Super Pumped for in 2011 Part One

Good day all! I'm feeling mostly better today. Quick recovery from the plague! So, since I was watching movies, and British TV all day yesterday (as well as creepily stalking people on IMDB), I started to come up with a list of all the Nergasm inducing movies that I'm excited for in 2011. Below is the list!

The Green Hornet (1/14)- It seems as if this is the year of the green! This movie started out as a radio show back in the 30's, and since has had a TV series as well as its own comic book series. Kevin Smith did the original script for the movie, but it was rejected by the studios, and became the current comic book series instead. Below is the Wikipedia description of the movie:

Britt Reid, the son of wealthy newspaper publisher James Reid, is a ne'er do well playboy who inherits a media empire after his father dies. One day, he meets an employee named Kato, who is more than he appears. After realizing how he and Kato are not using their abilities the fullest, Britt decides that the two should become crimefighters, taking on the identity of the Green Hornet. With the help of his new secretary, Lenore Case, Britt discovers that Russian criminal Benjamin Chudnofsky controls the city's criminal underworld. Meanwhile, Chudonfsky, paranoid that he is losing his edge as a crime boss, has united all of the gangs of the city and seeks the Green Hornet, believing him to be a direct threat to his elaborate grand plan.

I'm hoping for a noir-type flick. I really like Seth Rogan, and the idea of the movie, the only thing that could really ruin it for me is Cameron Diaz' stupid face. Almost as bad as Katherine Heigel. Almost.




Red Riding Hood (3/11)- Sure, Amanda Seyfried has a little bit of an alien face, but I still love her. The movie (directed by the first "Twilight" movie's Catherine Hardwicke) is a version of the original "Little Red Riding Hood" story. The IMDB synopsis is as follows:

Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.

A few things you should know about me; 1) I LOVE stories set in medieval times, especially when it's in a small village in the woods. 2) I know it's totally played out, but ever since the movie "Blood and Chocolate", I'm totally on board with werewolf lore. This movie could go either way. The good would be the story, the bad would be that, I don't think Catherine Hardwicke is capable of direction. We'll see!



Paul (3/18)- Anything with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is an automatic "Yes please!" for me. The movie is about two Brits traveling across the US, to get to SDCC (San Diego Comic Con, for those of you who should not be reading this blog if you didn't know what that was). On their way, they meet an alien, Paul, who is voiced by Seth Rogan. I have high hopes for this one because Simon Pegg would never let me down.



Sucker Punch (3/25)- This movie looks awesome. It's directed by Zack Snyder of "Watchmen", so you know, if nothing else, at least it will be pretty to look at. Below is the Warner Bros. release of the synopsis.

“Sucker Punch” is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.

She has been locked away against her will at Lennox House for the Mentally Insane, but Baby-Doll has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls—the outspoken Rocket the street-smart Blondie, the fiercely loyal Amber and the reluctant Sweet Pea—to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue, Madam Gorski and the High Roller.

Led by Baby-Doll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurai to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal. Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. But with the help of The Wiseman, their unbelievable journey—if they succeed—will set them free.

The plot sounds awesome, and I have heard some spoilers, which I won't divulge. Just know that from what I've heard, it's going to be f'ed up.

Thor (5/6)-  Admittedly, I could give a shit about Thor. I think the concept of a Norse God coming to earth to fight with the Avengers is completely ridiculous. However, after seeing the trailer, I must admit it looks pretty cool. I'm hoping Marvel can keep the momentum of "Iron Man" rolling into the next few movies. In my personal opinion however, if they were going to have a Marvel movie bomb, this would be the one.

X-Men: First Class (6/3)- Remember in the previous paragraph where I said that if Marvel was going to make a bomb, it would be Thor? Well, we might have a tie here. I have SUCH high hopes for this movie that I'm going to be EXTREMELY disappointed if it's a steaming pile. Matthew Vaughn of "Kick-Ass" is directing this X-Men prequel, and if he does as great of a job as he did with "Kick-Ass" on this, I'll be thrilled. The movie is set in the 1960's, and discusses the friendship, and subsequent demise of the friendship between Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Eric Lehnsherr (Magneto). Also appearing in the film are Emma Frost, Moira MacTaggart, Beast, Mystique and Cyclops. Please, for the love of god, be a good movie....

The Green Lantern (6/17)- It looks like a fun film. I mean, who doesn't love Ryan Reynolds? Amiright? I personally think that the whole Green Lantern series is completely ridiculous, but kudos to DC for throwing their hat into the Marvel dominated Summer movie-thon. Here's the plot:

A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe. 

Sounds like kind of a yawn fest to me, but I feel like this one will be the blockbuster comic movie of the Summer.




So, these movies will take us through the first half of the year! I'll be posting the second half of the year tomorrow!

Batman: Under the Red Hood

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you're all having a great day! The Editor has the flu, so we've just been catching up on movies and video games and whatnot all day. We just finished "Batman: Under the Red Hood" and it's definitely another winner by DC.

Following in the animated awesomeness that is "Wonder Woman" and "Green Lantern: First Flight", this movie does not disappoint. Sure, it kinda makes you wish it was live action, but the Warner/DC animation studio do a great job. It follows the Batman comic story lines form "A Death in the Family" and "under the Hood".

The story takes place in Gotham 5 years after Robin (Jason Todd Robin) was killed by The Joker. There is a new villain in town, and he calls himself The Red Hood. Batman soon finds out that some things from his past aren't dead, and he has to figure out a way to save the day, and save his friend.

Featuring voice talents such as Jensen Ackles, Neil Patrick Harris and Joe DiMaggio, this movie is great for all of you Batman fans out there.

Watchmen: The Failure by Evan T.

I have just re-watched Watchmen and man, that is some good movie. It is easily the most true to source material comic movie I have ever seen. I'm looking at panels in the book and seeing them on screen, listening to the words that I have read. I really think Zach Snyder's love of this material is what kept it so close to the source. This movie failed in theaters.

Why? Well let me tell you.

This movie was 2 hours and 40 minutes long. Most people have an attention span that cannot follow one minute commercials. Who thought people would be able to sit still for that long? I know what you are saying, Avatar is the highest grossing movie of forever and that movie was 2 hours 40 minutes. Yeah. No disrespect to that movie, I liked it a whole lot and am sure the Chief would call me an Ava-tard. That movie flows a little better and is not handling nearly the story load Watchmen does. It really gets heady.

The thing I blame most for the failure is the source itself. Watchmen is oft sighted as the greatest graphic novel. A creation that changed comics. Which it did. In 1986. The world of comics was very different back then. Hell, the world itself was very different back then. I really feel like people were slightly unimpressed with the movie because things have come since then and been more popular, really diluting the message and themes the book portrayed. I would like to know what the Chief and the Editor think about this subject.
Oh, and even though I did love the movie I didn't care very much for the book. It was hyped up beyond belief to me and I really was not impressed. I think, because, of all the comics and books and movies I had seen before reading it.

300 and The Break Up

Four years ago, I saw the movie "300". The following is my immediate reaction to seeing that movie after having it highly recommended to me. Bear in mind I have NOT seen "300" since, so my views may have changed. That being said, my views on "The Break Up" remain the same. Jennifer Aniston is the worst. Please enjoy.

I have to get something off my chest, and I may come away from this having a couple less friends, but I have to put it out there. ..

There has been something happening more and more frequently to me lately. People keep telling me about these "awesome" and "amazing" movies that I just "absolutely HAVE to see, because it is the best piece of cinematic gold ever created". So what happens? I get REALLY excited to see these movies, and then I spend $10 to go and see this "life changing film", and it ends up being the cheesiest piece of crap I've ever seen. 

In the past month I have encountered this twice. The two movies I speak of are "The Break Up", which I think was quite possibly the shittiest movie I have ever seen, and "300". I just don't get it. I went to see "300" with 3 other people, and they all were as disappointed as I was. Not one person warned us that it wasn't that good, so I feel that I have to take a stand, and let everyone know that "300" is nothing more than "Braveheart: Roman Edition". I actually got bored. When we were 25 minutes into the 3rd fight scene, I could have fallen asleep, not going to lie. Also, I found the movie to be a little...how do I put this?...gay. Jamie and I decided that this was possibly the gayest movie we had ever seen. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but there were definitely certain parts of the movie where we were uncontrollably laughing about the blatantly homoerotic undertones.

Just a little gay?

And briefly touching on "The Break Up"...I didn't get it. I just didn't. I couldn't understand how two people in an adult relationship could be as daft as these two. The whole movie was about Jennifer Aniston being a total bitch, to get Vince Vaugn to love her, which he already did. Aw, "baby wanted 12 lemons", tough shit, he's a guy, he forgot, you should have done it yourself. I would drink lots of beer and play playstation if she was bitching in my ear too. Its more exciting than listening to her speak. Friends of mine actually get offended when I tell them how much I HATE this movie.

The WORST movie I have ever seen.

All I'm asking is that if you are going to make a big fuss about a movie, make sure that you warn someone, that they may not feel the same way. All that needs to be said is "I thought this movie was great, however, there are parts of this movie (possibly the entire thing) that you may not like. I am simply telling you this because you are my friend, and I don't want you to waste $10, and two hours of your life to come out of this movie and want to kick me in the balls."

That's all I'm asking.

Sidenote: After putting the finishing touches on this post, I found THIS Wired article supporting my argument about 300.