Monday, November 22, 2010

¡MovieReview! Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

SCOTT-PILGRIM-vs-THE-WORLD

Synapsis: This dude, Scott Pilgrim [played perfectly by Michael Cera] begins dating this chick, Ramona [played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead] and everything is wonderful' until Scott finds out that in order to stay with her, he’ll have to defeat (defeat, not fight) her seven evil exes. Without seeing any production photos, sketches, or other bits of information about the film, would you go see it on a whims? Be honest. Ok, my turn:

No. I would not have up and seen this flick –BUT- that is a ridiculous question because no one in their right senses goes to see a movie without ever seeing or hearing anything else about the film. I mean, you don’t walk into a video store and look at blank words about the film! Hell nah! You look at the pictures the post-production team placed creatively on the back of the cassette! And yes! I am talking about VHS rentals! why? because they had the TWO extra pictures on the sides, not just the lousy low-bit picture now a-days on DVDs and Blue-Ray features.

But I digress; I apologize.

To review this film, I will liken the analysis to that of discussion topics I have had with one of the regulars at my store:

  1. Geekdom
  2. Characters
  3. Subtleties

Geekdom noun \`gēk-dəm\ [this could have been noted as “geekiness” or “geekness”, but I think “Geekdom” sounds more ‘geek-propriate’] : First and first most (yes, I said it), this movie tackles everything I was passionate about as a child and still passionate about to til this day- VIDEO GAMES AND CHICKS AND COMIC BOOKS; in that order. This calls for a

¡¡¡GEEKDOM BREAKKKDOOOOWWWN!!!

Video games: The seven evil exes, in design, are fashioned as the the first is the weed-out bad guy and the rest get harder from there. Also, when they are defeated, they turn to coins [BIG shout-out to Mario and Zelda]. Upon turning into coins, the hero is rewarded points, and those points are awarded on level of difficulty and combinations. This tickled my fancy far beyond any 3D video game system will ever. Not to mention the fact that everyone has always wanted to know what would happen if they got into a fight in the video game world. Scott does this and does this well. Whence a bad-guy is defeated in the video game world, they SHOULD turn blink red to show progress [though this trend died quickly in the early 2000’s] and when they are defeated, you SHOULD hear a resounding and epic “ K.O.!”. And this happens and it is great.

CHICKS: The girls are quite cute in the movie, so, well played Casting Crew and Mister Director [Edgar Wright]! And don’t even get me started about Ramona- when she pulls out the Thor-like digihammer to defend Scott from a crazed ex. Scott’s ex in the movie, Knives Chau played by Ellen Wong, also plays the adorable and confused, naive stalker-ex-that-loves-the-band kind of chick and she’s cuUuUuute! So, chicks in this movie: thumbs up. Next subject.

Comic Books: Scott is based off a comic series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, so there is that. Also, the fact that the action in the movie is highly characteristic of comics with the high-flying attacks, mega-punches, and mondo-moves. I also really enjoyed that fact that the movie just took off. Literally, Scott begins the quest for Ramona by launching himself upwards to the first ex. The moves and the action sequences remind me of the comics I grew up loving and still love to this day. Plus, it was just intense to see how Scott just naturally had these awesome abilities. He didn’t learn to fight and there was no montage. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good montage, but I think one in this film would have tainted it a bit. Lastly, no one knows how in the hell these people developed these fighting abilities- and that is brilliant. Not to mention there is only one dude that actually has stated powers, the rest are just people with crazy abilities. Lucas Lee, played by the up-and-coming Steve Rogers (Captain America) Chris Evans and Todd, played by Brandon Routh [was a one-time Superman] both show a really interesting and creative adaptation of this. I’m not telling how and what, so go watch it. Finally (truly lastly finally) there were a couple of spots here and there that only a geek would notice involving comic books, primarily the usage of two superheroes. If you DON’T spot them, just let me know and I’ll point them out to you. [note: dual montage clips. CLICK THEM BOTH]

Ultimately, there were multiple aspects of the movie that tickled me allll sorts of pink because of its 112minute patronage to all things great on this Earth.

Characters noun \ˈker-ik-tərs\: I haven’t really said this for while about any one movie, but the entire cast was very well-rounded and worked with each other incredibly. Scott’s crew, the exes, and even the background people were incredible. I especially love Young Neil. Once you see the movie, you’ll know what’s up. But seriously, the characters and the actors who portrayed them were awesome, as the acting was very done and everyone maintained a certain tone to it- serious, yet quirky and smart-assy [i.e. Kim, played by Alison Pill], which made the movie just that much funnier. and enjoyable. Characters to watch and enjoy: Wallace [Kieran Culkin], Young Neil [Johnny Simmons], and Todd [Brandon Routh].

Subtleties (subtlety) noun \ˈsə-təl-tē\: It mostly has to do with the quips and the dialogue, but there are multitudes of subtle ‘here-theres'’ that you’re going to have to watch it. It’s really hard to describe the subtleties of the film not because there are so many or for any reason other than, well, they were subtle. Many people might not pick up on them because I am entertained by subtleties and their silent, often un-picked up genius. It’s just how I am, though I really hope by telling you that the film is riddled in quips and intelligent banter and creative direction, you’ll really try looking for them. Just know that they were one of the biggest influences on my strong liking of this film.

Overall: Very good flick. Other people will say it’s a movie to the testament of character or because they were a fan of the comic book, what have you. As a geek and a dude who likes the subtle things in life, I found this movie to be highly enjoyable. Scott Pilgrim brings to screen any fantastic daydreams I had as a kid and it’s because of this, I connected with this film. I felt…something…something great- such as laying in bed watching the film with your best friend (and in this instance, my significant other Sarah). All in all, if you were at all interested in how your life would be lived as a comic book hero, video game protagonist, or just some dude who fell in love with a purple-haired chicka, check out Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It'll either make you want to play video games or write a blog about telling other people to play video games after watching it.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World [5 High-Fives]

Starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Ellen Wong

¡¡¡DO IT!!!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Lou Ferrigno….NOOOOOO!!!

ferrignohulka

Lou Ferrigno just signed up as a volunteer for the Arizona immigration witch-hunt a.k.a “the-anyone-who-looks-like-they-are-uncomfortable-around-law-enforcement-and-or-is-brown-is-in-deep-shit posse”. The posse was bad news on its own and now they recruited the HULK! Sonuvabitch! No one can run and NO one can hide from the HULK! There is no hiding your wives, or hiding your kids, because the Hulk WILL snatch all your peoples up!

Seriously?

Let’s put aside the idea that one of the most recognizable icons from the golden age of television has joined a statewide manhunt for immigrants, the entire idea of the Arizona law is redonkulous. Yes, REDONK-U-LOUS. Don’t get me wrong, I have read the reports and the statistics behind illegal immigration and I know that there are negative side-effects and economic reactions to having out of control immigration and I support some sort of designed regulations surrounding immigration- but I will not, will not support Arizona’s attempts at renegade immigration patrol. If people read the reports and looked through the economics of immigration, there is a good amount of it that helps out economy and actually gives the American people jobs! But Arizona in all of it’s infinite wisdom has decided to grab it’s proverbial torch and equally proverbial pitchforks and hunt the monster that is immigrants- and it is absolutely asinine.

I apologize, younger generations, for the falling of a comic-icon. Lou Ferrigno knows not what he does.May the Lou Ferrigno we all know and love rest in peace; and may Arizona get kicked in it’s foreigner-hating testicle/vagina [I didn’t want to associate Arizona with the hated-rage typically associated with being a man, so I gave it a vagina too. me= maninist]

Movie Review: The Karate Kid

Jaden Smith Karate Kid

So, without any pretenses and pre-review ramblings, here is my assessment of the Karate Kid reboot: it was actually pretty damn good.

Plot: This was a remake; No further comment.

Acting: Good stuff, mangaloid. Jackie Chan’s handle on English from years of being a Hollywood icon and Jaden Smith being the son of two of TinselTown’s finest, you’d expect the acting to be up to snuff ESPECIALLY since remaking one of mankind’s most favorite films. If you act like a bitch or cry when you’re not supposed to*COUGHtoberymaguireCOUGHspiderman* then you’re not only doing a disservice to yourself for sucking it up, but you’re insulting a classic. Honestly, the worst acting was from the antagonist because for as awesome as he was at kicking ass, he had a really high-pitched voice which made his badassery fall. I know, I know, I shouldn’t hate because the original bad-boy had a higher pitched voice AND the little Chinese kid is, well, a kid but I feel they should have doctored his voice with Michael Clarke Duncan. Outside of that, I was pretty impressed with how well the actors, all of them [mostly the younger Chinese students] performed in the film. Smith Jr. actually surprised me with his chops. He rocked it out in Pursuit of Happyness, but in Pursuit, he had to act like himself, a little boy; Karate Kid, he got the shit kicked out of him repeatedly and STILL maintain is chi. I was half surprised at how much of Big Willie’s swagger stays strong in this little Smith, but at the same time- he’s the heir to the Fresh Prince and his kingdom in Bel-Air, so in truth I was probably more relieved that he’s keeping it in the family. I mean alive. Yeah, you know what’s up.

Action: Damn. Damn. I did not…Damn! I didn’t think little kids could do those kind of things. I have a strong sense that Jaden Smith didn’t do all of his own stunts, but I have a STRONG sense that the little Chinese kid who plays his archnemesis Cheng did. The kid’s acting supports my theory. He was weak at anything but being a complete asshole, but that asshole literally kicked ass and kicked it hard. But more seriously, the action and the storyline, helmed by Harald Zwart took a much more serious tone than the original. It could have been the lack of 80’s pop music (replaced by modern pop music---fack..) or the fact that Ralph Macchio is a goofy bastard to begin with, but the tone of the film was more heavy than the original. The hits, the fear little Smith has of those kids, and the training- oh myGAWD the training! It was intense! Little Smith, something like 12 years old, began looking like that Russian weightlifting buckaroo [click it!]- but with cornrows. The heavier tone is felt more so in this film because of the montage. Granted, in the original, the montage was Ralph Macchio’s best friend, but with the original you felt him get better and gain more confidence. The remake, however, you feel the Little Smith get stronger, better, and still scared shitless- That’s the difference.

Overall: It won’t ever touch the level that the original because the bond between Daniel-son and Miyagi was something that the world had never seen and they became addicted to it, for one. And for another, they remade it before the “most-of-the-original-cast-has-died-and-their-family-doesn’t-mind-a-remake” mark, which weighs heavily on me, personally. But honestly- don’t push this movie aside. Coming from someone who never thought they’d voluntarily sit down and check it out, I actually really enjoyed this film. In fact, I watched it twice before I had to return it, and I normally don’t do that. It’s a good flick that I would say does the original justice by not sucking ass. They use subtle similarities from the old film and you get excited about how the new film will use it [Russian Scotsman, you’d better pick up on what I’m talking about] and you really are not disappointed. Go rent the film and check it out. You’ll see what I’m talking about- all of you.

The [next, Next] Karate Kid [3.4 High Fives]

starring Jaden Smith, Jackin Chan, Taraji P. Hensen, Zhenwei Wang

Bill Bye collapses- and the audience does NOTHING

Bill-Nye

This just pisses me right off. This highly intelligent and highly beloved icon of the 90’s after-school special era collapsed while walking to the podium during a presentation at University of Southern California (USC, for those less-than sufficient in their college acronymology-and yes I know this is a fake word, but suck it)- and the students did absolutely nothing! They sat in their chairs and did nothing. Oh, wait, my bad- they UPDATED THEIR STATUSES.

Absolutely ridiculous.

This doesn’t help USC with their image problem of thinking they are better than everyone else and it doesn’t help me with liking them- yes all of them- at all.

Here’s the article I read: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101117/sc_yblog_thelookout/if-the-science-guy-passes-out-and-nobody-tweets-it-did-it-happen

And yes, it is a one-sided account, but since no one from USC is doing anything but telling people on Facebook and Twitter that they “totally, like, read that they were in the news and stuff”, I don’t really care.

What can we take away from this?

  1. USC is full of tools;
  2. I further my hold on a complete dislike of the school and their complete douchebagery ;
  3. Bill Nye is getting old
  4. #3 makes me sad
  5. Acronymology should become a word.

Mike out!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Movie Review: Iron-Man 2

IronManConcept1

Image from blog.al.com, courtesy of Sega

This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while but finally got the push to do it. Dear MacRussianScot, this is for you:

***MINOR SPOILERS. READ ON YOUR OWN ACCORD***

(i.e. don’t get pissed at me if I ruin a plot twist for you)

The biggest question on everyone’s mind when Iron-Man 2 started pre-production was “…how will IM2 weigh up to the first one?” I hope to give you the insight to go find out for yourself (I’ll give my opinion at the end). I don’t know a lot about Iron-Man’s history outside of his alter-ego’s alcoholic past with his up-and-coming self-induced paralysis (oops- I hope I didn’t just unintentially spoil IM3 or a possible plot-twist in The Avengers…), so my first-thought was that I couldn’t think of any immediate fantastic villains outside of Justin Hammer (IM2 villain) or the Hulk, but I doubt Favreau would go that route just yet. And while I’m being honest, I really didn’t know what to expect from the second installment because I felt from all of the TV spots I’d seen through the weeks and months leading up to my own experience, I felt I had already seen it; but I was wrong. I’ll get to that later and you’ll see what I mean. SO here’s how I will be critiquing Iron-Man 2: comic interpretation, antagonists/villains, character development. Normally I would use the same ole’ “plot, action, acting, etc”, but I want to try something new. Plus, the only real bad acting was from Gwyneth Paltrow- I don’t like her.; I think her acting stinks, her facial expressions suck, and she hasn’t landed anything worth paying attention to (except Iron Man 1 and Shallow Hal)—but I digress—on to the review!

Comic Interpretation

As I said, there isn’t a whole lot I know about Iron Man/Tony Stark but from what I do know is that Tony Stark is the anti-hero of heroes. It sounds complex, but it really isn’t. Essentially, he’s the most human out of many of the superheroes because is the most frail at the same time he’s supposed to be the so strong, almost made of…iron..? (tell me you giggled too) But as it turns out, he’s an alcoholic playboy with a lot of personal issues, of which, Favreau illustrates just the playboy side in both of the Iron Man films. In Iron Man 2, Favreau does a good job at interpreting this problem by incorporating it into the plot line, using the alcohol as a way to stave of death for that much longer, but ironically killing him at the same time—just like alcoholism. In both Iron Man films, Stark’s playboy-side is shown incredibly well. Anyone not familiar at all with the character, Downey Jr. simply seems like the misdirected fool that needed a push, but to anyone whose read at least one Iron Man, they’ll see it’s very well played out by Favreau’s team; his alcoholism is portrayed also very well by Favreau’s team in an interesting twist, a really good twist that shows more of Stark’s ingenuity and massive mental awesomeness and because of the awesomeness that is Favreau’s interpretation I say this—mui bueno, senior.

Antagonists/Villains

Sam Rockwell i.e. Justin Hammer was a good and logical choice. Most of Iron Man’s biggest, baddest, and most hard to fall come from Stark’s days in both the Avengers and the West Cost Avengers, and since that movie hasn’t come out yet, then the best choice was the easiest and most logical- and that was to create two enemies; Justin Hammer is Stark’s opponent in the business world, and Whiplash [played very well by Mickey Rourke] as Iron Man’s nemesis. I don’t really know how Hammer was in the comics, but I really enjoyed Rockwell’s take on it. He made Hammer seem like an incompetent and lucky-to-be-where-he-is kind of dude and it worked, it really did. He played it off right and his character was perfect for the semi-villain. You could tell he was never the main bad guy because he wasn’t of any true influence on what Stark did or how he operated. Hammer is a nuisance and Rockwell acted well on the part. Rourke, well, Rourke was incredible as the main bad-dude Whiplash. The part I found most negative about his character was the back story that IM2 provided: nuclear physicist. I’m not sure how that correlates to the comics, but I cringed when they gave it because I don’t think it was fitting for the character and Rourke’s physique. It’s like saying Tara Reid fits the profile of a ‘brilliant anthropologist’ (ref: Alone in the Dark). Outside of the ill-fitted back story, the only other downer I saw to Rourke’s character was his obsession with whips. I know, I know- his name is Whiplash, whiplash, but obviously, as you’ll see, the whips don’t quite work and with all the crazy explosive action, you wish Whiplash would have done something a little more—elaborate with his weaponry. There is also a third villain- Stark himself. His attitude and stubbornness is nearly destructive to himself and his friends, but this is more of a constant villain, as seen through the entire film. I just wanted to note that it’s there. And it’s good.

Character Development [primarily dealing with Downey Jr./ Stark/ Iron-Man]

There are two things I noticed of the film. First, between Iron-Man 1 and 2, Downey’s portrayal of Tony Stark remains relatively the same, if not more narcissist than before. To be honest, a self-made hero that has the badass intellect and swagger to pull it off and “privatize world-peace” deserves the mondo-dose of ego. With that said, it seems like with the work he’d completed between the two films, you think he would have changed somewhat for the better- but he didn’t. His big change came at the end of the film when he realizes that he has the ability, knowledge, and the know-how to create a new element. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but with any kind of superhero, you always want them to learn the error of their ways in the from their super-debut. Iron-Man 2 doesn’t fulfill that sort of viewer desire but it does, however, fulfill the other thing I noticed: Tony Stark’s genius. In the first movie, it showed his ingenuity to create weapons; IM2 shows Stark’s ability to create a NEW ELEMENT and create advanced weaponry/scientific innovations, something extremely prevalent to the comic character. Tony Stark is a genius and IM2 shows this very well.

Overall

Great movie. To get to my earlier notes (1) I felt I had already seen it and (2) Was it better, with the TV spots, it showed so much of the conflict between Iron-Man and the overarching villain, Justin Hammer, that you thought you knew what the movie was about. But, as it will show, the movie has more to do with the battle between Iron-Man and Tony Stark. The whole Hammer and Whiplash is just for action since the story lies with Stark and that, my friends, is the plot that Iron Man 2 needed. We got action and a wicked bad-dude last movie and this film was more on the development of who Tony Stark/Iron Man is and will become. Yeah, there were some pretty sweet scenes, but for the most part, the movie needed to deal with the character, not the explosions. With that said, I don’t think it was necessarily better than the first one. I won’t say it was bad or much worse than the first, but there is something about an origin flick that always sticks out. I really liked Iron-Man 2 and will think it was well done, except the whole creating a new element thing wasn’t explained all that well, but I digress- good film.

IRON-MAN 2 [4.2 high-Fives]

(starring Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, and ugh…Gwyneth Paltrow)

Check it out fool!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Animal House on Wheels…and coke..and steroids…

blue-mountain-state

Blue Mountain State

[4.0 High-Fives]

starring Ed Marinaro, Alan Ritchson, Darin Brooks, and Sam Jones III

Seriously, if you have seen Animal House, American Pie, and any other ridiculous raunchy college humored movie- and LIKED it- then you need to tune in to Blue Mountain State on SpikeTV on Wednesday’s 11pm/10c.

The show mainly follows BMS’s backup QB, Alex Moran ( Darin Brooks, dude in the red jersey) as he goes through college and his football career on the sidelines-purposefully- and I quote: “being backup QB is the best position on the team! I can drink all I want, I don’t have to go to class, and I get the perks on being back-up QB [while in bed with two women].” His best friend, and team mascot, Sammy, is mildly retarded-yet-mildly-ingenious in all of his endeavors. Sam Jones III plays Craig Shiloh, BMS’s own Reggie Bush, but sadly gets pulled into horrible situations because of Alex and the team captain, Thad Castle [Alan Ritchson] who is one of my favorite characters of the entire show. Ritchson plays him perfect, a model of stereotypical collegiate meat-headedness, Castle…ugh, eff it. Just watch one episode and you’ll either like it or love it.

Here’s why you’ll like it:

  • Hot college chicks;
  • Modern day Animal House in football pads;
  • the cast works perfectly together [rounded out by Ed Marinaro, a former NFL running back];
  • You have a [sick] sense of humor;
  • Hot college chicks.

You won’t like it if:

  • You’re a square that looks for absolute plot in a 20min block of television;
  • You’re a maninist (the feminists of man) and are appalled at the typical portrayal of men;
  • You are no fun.

I’m going to do you a favor and set up a link for a video from BMS’s SpikeTV page. It’s called  “Memorable Moments from season 1”. I’m also going to be honest- it only holds a microscopic amount of the good times. Seriously…watch Blue Mountain State if you like fun.

Most Memorable BMS Quotes: Season 1