Archive for category movies
Dear God: Thank You For Answering My Prayers
Bill and Ted 3? Way.
“.. On the red carpet for the Academy Awards, MTV asked Keanu Reeves if we’d be seeing a new Bill & Ted sequel in the future. Reeves laughed and responded by saying “I’m trying, I’m trying.”
MTV journo Josh Horowitz asked if he was joking, to which Reeves responded “I’m not…””
I love Bill and Ted. I own both films. The second one wasn’t as good as the first, but that often happens in the sequel. If a third one comes along it could be good. It could also be totally bodacious. Awesome? Way.
30 Rare Star Wars Photos
Did Han shoot this guy first?
Star Wars is my favorite movie trilogy of all time. The original episodes IV-VI. Its cool to see new stuff from that age, like these newly released photos.
This is a fun picture.
Its too late for me, my son.
Denzel Washington Venn Diagram
“Someone has created a Venn Diagram giving us a visual representation of the many different haircuts and head-wear actor Denzel Washington employs in his movies. I’m not sure who created this image. I found it on Paul Scheer’s blog, where he commented “Finally someone breaks it down”. Scheer discovered the diagram on ziesgotyouhigh.“
Great Free Music
Check out the above sampler album “Ghostly Essentials Avant-Pop One.” Not only is the price right but the music is really great.
The Phantom Menace 70 Minute Review
Watch this review.
“Chances are you probably didn’t like Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. You might be a Star Wars fan, or at least a fan of the original trilogy. After waiting in line for hours, days, weeks, you may have even written a mini 200-400 word review on an internet message board somewhere. If you were a working movie critic, you might have even written a 1,000-2,000 word review of the film for some newspaper or magazine. All of this exists in the realm of possibility…but what about a 70-minute video review?
Some guy named Mike from Milwaukee, WI put together a 70-minute video review discussing the many reasons why the movie was horrible. And this isn’t your usual fanboy rant, this is an epic, well-edited well-constructed piece of geek film criticism. In fact, the way I learned about the video was from Lost co-creator and Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof, who said “Your life is about to change. This is astounding film making. Watch ALL of it.”
This review is incredible. He pretty much nails why The Phantom Menace is not a good movie. Compared to the other prequels, its the best of the bunch in my view. I don’t find it a particularly good movie though. I wished for more, but the rage it caused the geek community is fun to experience at times and this 70 minute video review is one such example.
The Book of Eli (Movie Review)
Yes Mel, I am coming to take your post apocalyptic prize!
I am going to keep this review spoiler free. The above image is linked the Wikipedia page for the movie. Wikipedia ALWAYS spoils movies as they detail the plot in the article. You have been warned.
I think its important to note my expectations of The Book of Eli. First off I expected it to be Mad Max with Denzel Washington. I also expected it to be so so. I love post apocalyptic movies so this was a no brainer for me. I love this genre. However this movie exceeded my expectations so much so that I don’t think I can rate this movie high enough. This movie isn’t good because it beat my expectations, its a great movie because it blew my mind.
But what about this movie blew my mind? Good question.
Almost not worth noting that Denzel Washington is a extremely well seasoned actor with amazing chops. Ive seen him in movies I didn’t love but he always pulled off his roles with style. His character is not really like other characters I have seen him play. Eli is actually a pretty reserved character. Well save that he can open a can of whoop ass unlike many ive seen on screen. In these kind of post apocalyptic movies the main character is flamboyant, thrill seeking and cocky. Eli is none of those things. He is on a mission and doesn’t want to deviate from it. He has to and thats where things get interesting but he tries to avoid it as much as he can. I guess to sum it up, Denzel Washington adds to the post apocalyptic good guy character in ways I haven’t seen in this kind of move.
The cinematography in this film is very good. One action scene in the beginning of the movie is done entirely in silloutte. This is something I haven’t quite seen before because you only can see the outlines of the action, blood and all. Its gruesome for sure but it leaves much up to the imagination in a way I thought was unique. The camera paints a world that YOU DO NOT want to live in. Much in the same way as District 9 except that this post apocalyptic US is 100 times worse than that. I gave District 9 cred for developing a future world I never want to live in. I give The Book of Eli a gold medal for showing a post apocalyptic future we as humans never want to create. I imagine its spot on but the ways they showed it I was shocked to realize were dead on accurate.
The story is pretty much what I love most about this movie. Now I am not going to ruin the movie when I saw I don’t see faith portrayed this well in a film. If you know nothing about the movie that statement might surprise you but then again this movie is not simply Denzel Washington as Mad Max. I mean it is, but at its root its really not. In fact the friend that went to see it with me and myself spend an hour and half talking about what this movie is trying to say. There are some really impossible aspects to this movie but then again I found it easy to suspend my disbelief for the entire thing. It was a joy to watch the surprises unfold.
The soundtrack for this movie was something I didn’t think too much about when I watched the movie save I liked it. I listened to a few of the songs afterward and realized I really really liked the score. The score was written by Atticus Ross a composer and part collaborator on all Nine Inch Nails releases since With Teeth. The influence shows and I love the score. Its very ambient but the songs do have themes and tones. Its quite like the Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts but a bit more even and songs often contain Orchestral parts. The lead track Panoramic is beautiful and its all over the movie. In fact, I loved the soundtrack so much I bought it. Its pretty rare I snack up a soundtrack but few are this good. Few movies are this good actually.
Book of Eli Soundrack(CD)
The Book Of Eli Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [+digital booklet]
I can’t recommend you see this movie enough. Then again, if you go out and read other reviewers reviews of this movie you might not get such a raving review. A few people laughed at the movie in parts that were not funny. Some people might not have bought some of what the movie was selling but I ate it up entirely. Then again some people laughed at District 9 when the main character was forced to shoot a prawn(when I can’t understand that scene was horrific).
I rate this movie 10 out of 10 with a bullet. “Beyond phenomenal” are words that came to my mind. I will purchase this movie the second it is released and will see it again in the theaters. Yeah, I liked it that much. Does it show?
BONUS FEATURES:
* I noticed this movie has 3 of the actors from the “Harry Potter verse.” Dumbledore & Madame Maxime are married and Sirus Black is the bad guy. Of course I mean Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon & Frances de la Tour. When Frances de la Tour and Michael Gambon were on screen I was like “Dumbledore marries Madam Maxime in the future? Huh… strange.” It didn’t take me out of the movie, the characters act NOTHING like their Hogwarts counterparts but its fun to notice.
Avatar Screenplay
Im not sure why, but here is the screenplay. I know, its sweet.
“Fox has posted James Cameron’s script for Avatar online to be read/studied/mocked as you please. The script is dated 2007, and from what I’ve read includes some Earth-based opening scenes that never made it to the film“
The Simpsons Season 20
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The Simpsons: Twentieth Season
The Simpsons: Twentieth Season [Blu-ray]
Excerpt from an Amazon comment:
“No matter what your opinion of the various seasons of The Simpsons, you could count on a lovingly constructed DVD release full of special features, particularly audio commentaries for each episode. In skipping many seasons ahead to coincide with various Simpsons 20th Anniversary events it appears FOX (who knows who all was involved with this decision) all that goodwill has been erased with these barebones releases. The only “special feature” is an abbreviated preview of the just-aired 20th Anniversary Special. No commentaries, no animatics, no nuthin’. While the DVD version still has a full booklet with episode summaries, the Blu-ray has a tiny insert that lists only the titles. Neither has the customary Groening welcome letter. This is a blatant cash grab, I guess we’re expected to double-dip once the older seasons are finally released? I am ashamed to have purchased these releases, and the long-running staff of The Simpsons should be likewise embarrassed to have these releases sit alongside more than a decade of hilarious, feature-packed DVD sets that came before.”
I own The Simpsons on DVD. Seasons 1-10 and 12. I skipped 11 because it wasn’t on sale anywhere for less than $20. I picked up season 12 for $12. I love the show quite a bit. Always have a soft spot for The Simpsons. Seasons 1-8 id say were quite good. The remaining are good, just less good than the one before it. For instance, season 12 is fine it just has a few episodes that are fairly boring.
So after releasing season 12 they skipped to season 20. I am not really sure why they did this. Perhaps to skip to commemorating the 20th year? Since season 20 is in high def perhaps they want a bluray release as well? I am by nature a completist. I like to finish all the side quests in a game and explore the entire board in Doom The Board Game. But I am not sure that will mean I pickup all the seasons of The Simpsons. Ive had season 12 for a few months now and I am still a few episodes away from completing it. Watching The Simpsons in high def sounds good but receiving no commentary seems off. I watched every season 1-8 episode with commentary and it was really fun hearing what they had to say.