My earlier post on the Oscars was almost two months ago now, and a lot has changed. We have seen the SAG nominations, the Golden Globe nominations, and some of the critics awards come through, and that changes the race. I decided the easiest way for me to keep updating the status of the films as things will change a lot between now and the ceremony, would be to do Oscar power rankings, where I rank the big awards and who is in the best position as of today. I will do ten films since that is the maximum number of nominees for picture, and 5 in the other categories. Here we go..
Best Picture:
1. The Artist-Still the favorite, but lots of backlash out there, and the favorite in November and December is almost never the winner in February.
2. The Descendants- Fading a bit from its front runner status of two months ago.
3. War Horse- The climber, however early reviews seem to indicate a love it or hate it mentality, never good.
4. Hugo-Might have been released too early, and maybe now that people are actually seeing it, they are realizing it is boring.
5. The Help- Has stood the test of time, doesn't seem to have a shot to win, but a nomination is a sure thing.
6. Midnight in Paris- I have heard zero about whether or not this is actually good or if people just like it because they think Woody Allen knows what he is doing.
7. Tree of Life- Hasn't stood the test of time as well as The Help, but still hanging around.
8. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Coming out so late, its not much of a factor.....yet.
9. Moneyball- More likely to make waves in acting and screenwriting, but still has an outside shot.
10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Many think Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and/or The Ides of March are more likely here, but I think late support for GwtDT will come on late. J. Edgar falls off the list of ten.
Best Actor:
1. George Clooney/The Descendants- Still the favorite, lots of competition though.
2. Brad Pitt/Moneyball- Many think is more deserving of a BSA nomination for Tree of Life, but that should only help him here.
3. Jean Dujardin/The Artist- I think he will get nominated, but the fact his movie is silent will ultimately cost him.
4. Michael Fassbender/Shame- The one I really think will come on late.
5. Leonardo DiCaprio/J. Edgar- Despite a great performance, feels like people just keep him in the race because he is so good, not because they loved this film specifically.
Best Actress:
1. Viola Davis/The Help- To unseat Streep, it takes a great performance.
2. Meryl Streep/Iron Lady- Hurts that you literally CANNOT find this movie anywhere.
3. Glenn Close/Albert Nobbs- Same as Streep, not sure where these films come from.
4. Tilda Swinton/We Need to Talk about Kevin- Late bloomer, but coming on very strong.
5. Michelle Williams/My Week with Marilyn- Fading a bit, might stick as many feel she should have won last year.
*-This category is going to get tough. While most others have a definitive 5 favorites, this has 7. Rooney Mara in GwtDT and Charlize Theron in Young Adult are going to fight hard to get in.
Best Supporting Actor:
1. Christopher Plummer/Beginners- Have this in my queue, will give it my thoughts soon.
2. Kenneth Branaugh/My Week with Marilyn- Some people feel he is the favorite, others leave him out entirely. Tough call.
3. Albert Brooks/Drive- Ignored at the Golden Globes in favor of Viggo, but was the favorite up until then.
4. Nick Nolte/Warrior- Performance was too close to home to not recognize for those who like Nolte.
5. Armie Hammer/J. Edgar- Many feel he will be left off, but since he is my personal favorite here, I still feel he has a chance.
Best Supporting Actress:
1. Octavia Spencer/The Help- The better Davis does, the better Spencer will do.
2. Melissa McCarthy/Bridesmaids- Yes, seriously.
3. Berenice Bejo/The Artist- See Dujardin, Jean.
4. Jessica Chastain/The Help- Has had a great year, and many feel could have been nominated for this, The Tree of Life, or Take Shelter.
5. Shailene Woodley/The Descendants- Toss up between her and the supporting actress from Albert Nobbs, but I believe Close will be the only nominee from that film.
Best Director:
1. Michael Hazanavicious/The Artist- For me I think this its best chance at a major award.
2. Martin Scorsese/Hugo- Scorsese always has a shot.
3. Steven Spielberg/War Horse- Spielberg always has a shot.
4. Alexander Payne/The Descendants- Has a good track record with the Academy, but was the film that much of an achievement in direction?
5. Terrence Malick/Tree of Life- I think he'll sneak in and cost the overrated Woody Allen a nomination....cross off think....add in hope.
So that is where we stand in my humble opinion. However, as we know, things will change.
-Maximus
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Movie Review-Hugo
Hugo is a reported Oscar favorite directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese, so what could go wrong?.....It was with this mindset that I went into Hugo, and then I was bored for an hour and a half before some semblance of a point finally showed itself in the last half hour. The film is about a young boy named Hugo, who lives in the Paris train station, keeping the clocks on time. Hugo is an orphan and is constantly on the run from the station inspector (Sasha Baron Cohen). When Hugo's father (Jude Law) was alive, they rebuilt an automaton, and the mystery of the movie is about what secrets this automaton holds and the search to find its key. From there it becomes a movie lovers film about movies, but doesn't do much to add excitement along the way. The film's humor works well but it used sparingly, and its two chase sequences are effective, but outside of those, the film is all about Hugo talking to various people about various things. Scorsese does get great performances from Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone, but the film overall lacks any real entertainment. The best part about Hugo is its 3D, it is the best 3D I have seen since Avatar, and it is one of the few things that kept me from falling asleep. I give Hugo 5 Ninja stars out of 10.
-Maximus
-Maximus
New DVD Review-Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I saw Rise on DVD, but almost everyone else I know had already seen it in theaters, and had told me how great it was. Naturally, my expectations were very high, and when that happens, usually I end up being disappointed. However, Rise of the Planet of the Apes did not disappoint, the film is very exciting and puts some very interesting twists in the mythology that keep you on your toes despite knowing how it should end. The plot follows a young scientist (James Franco) who brings home a chimpanzee (Andy Serkis) and uses him as a test subject for an Alzheimer's medication. This medicine increases brain function, and the chimpanzee, Caeser, becomes smarter than most humans. From here I do not want to spoil much, suffice to say the apes decide their not going to take it anymore and rise up. Great performances from Andy Serkis in motion capture and John Lithgow as Franco's father. The effects are very good, especially the faces and reactions of the apes. Very few parts look like they are computer generated even though such a good portion of the film is CGI. Now that I have seen all the big summer films of 2011, I can say this and Harry Potter 7 Part 2 are the two best by far, and when I first heard they were making another Planet of the Apes film, I would have never guessed it could have been this good. I give Rise of the Planet of the Apes 8 Ninja Stars out of 10.
-Maximus
Friday, December 16, 2011
New DVD Review - Cowboys and Aliens
So the idea I thought originally was a cool one. Get two different genres and pit them against each other. And then I saw Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford were going to star in this movie and I thought "Wow this could be pretty solid". And then I saw that Jon Favreau was going to direct it and then I thought "He did a really good job with Iron Man, this movie could really be good with him behind the camera". So I was altogether thinking this movie would be an instant hit with me since I like both genres. Then I saw it… There was action most of the time and the aliens didn't look terrible but whatever it was about this movie, I was just bored the whole time. There was no point where I was interested and thought this was a cool movie. I can't put my finger on any one thing but when the credits rolled I felt like I just wasted 2 hours of my life. It wasn't terrible just boring in my opinion. Also this idea of aliens vs. cowboys seems cool but when you really look at it, it just doesn't make sense. It would be like an ant going up against the exterminator. I mean the aliens just traveled through space while the cowboys are still riding horses. A six-shooter can't stand up to a ray gun that hits with a sonic boom. Sorry but it just doesn't stand up. I would have to give this film 5 Ninja Stars out of 10 because again it wasn't bad it was just very boring.
-Diomedes
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
New DVD Review - Conan the Barbarian
Conan is a warrior of a Cimmerian tribe that was all but extinguished due to the quest of an evil lord looking to make himself a god and bring back the witch wife that was burned before his eyes. Conan is a brute but a very cunning brute. In the book series he was hailed as the King of the Thieves because of how crafty he was. In this movie he shows a little of that but not much and as Arnold before him, he mostly relies on his strength to defeat his foes. This is a partial remake of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film done in the 80's being that it's mostly the same idea with a few details changed. They basically tried to beef it up with visuals to impress the audience in comparison of the original. I am a huge fan of the original even with its cheesy graphics. You just can't beat Arnold when it comes to a berserking barbarian, sorry but it's true. So I wouldn't say this movie was terrible. It was entertaining but in a "I like dumb blunt action" type of way. If you're bored watch it. If not I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. I give it 4 Ninja Stars out of 10 and recommend the original over this one.
-Diomedes
Movie Review - Breaking Dawn
This is the 4th installment of this vampire/werewolf series with one more to go. It has to do with Bella finally picking Edward and their marriage. I will also say that there is a pregnancy that is a huge concern. This movie is the first half of the 4th book and it is definitely not the action filled portion. That being said I did end up liking the underlying conflicts and I am excited to see how they end the series. I don't know why I had a positive reaction to this film but I would say it is worth seeing. You probably don't need to see it in the theaters since it does not take advantage of the theaters main qualities (sound, base, visual effects, 3D, etc…) but if you were into the prior movies than it may be worthwhile for you to go purchase a movie ticket and view it in the cathedral of movie viewing (The Theater). I would also like to state that I liked the first one and thought the last 2 were boring. This one I would give 7 Ninja Stars out of 10.
-Diomedes
Thursday, December 1, 2011
In Appreciation of Christopher Nolan
Spielberg, Scorsese, Eastwood, Scott, Howard...... All big names in the directing game, and arguably the five currently at the top of the active class. Tarantino, Fincher, Del Toro, Mann, and Snyder come to mind as well. Some would say Woody Allen, and those people would be wrong. But even with all those great names listed, I have to ask, is Christopher Nolan currently the best working director? Hear me out before you dismiss it. Nolan is currently shooting his 8th full length feature film, The Dark Knight Rises, and reportedly it will be his last outing involving the Caped Crusader. His first, Following, was shot for little to no budget and really does not apply to his total filmography. But from there on out he has been on fire, here is a breakdown of the next 6 films he would go on to direct and the Ninja Stars I gave it:
Memento: The most inventive film of its year, the story is told in fragmented fashion going from end to beginning, and tells the story of a man with no memory of what led to a murder. The audience learns along with the protagonist. Very few directors could have made Memento work and work in a sensible way, but Nolan did. 9 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Insomnia: The only of his 8 films that he did not get a writing credit for, but a great film none the less. A traditional murder mystery with two twists, A) the setting is a town in Alaska during a period of round the clock daylight, and B) our hero, played by Al Pacino, accidentally shoots his partner in the beginning, and it just so happens that his partner was about to testify against him for corruption.The film is deep and layered and gets great performance from Pacino and Robin Williams cast against type as a killer, in addition it really put Hilary Swank's career into drive. 8 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Batman Begins: After the debacle of Batman & Robin, it seemed the Batman franchise was dead and gone, but instead Nolan brought it back in dark and Gothic fashion, he brought a sense of realism to the story, and while The Dark Knight gets all the credit, Batman Begins is a near perfect Batman film. Nolan took fantastical villains Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) and Ras Al Ghul (Liam Neeson and Ken Watanbe) and made them believably twisted. 10 Ninja Stars out of 10.
The Prestige: A personal favorite, the story of two magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman) who start as partners but end as rivals. There are very few films that came out in the 2000's that have been as intelligent as The Prestige. 10 Ninja Stars out of 10.
The Dark Knight: Many consider it to be Nolan's crown jewel. A perfect super hero film, the best in a genre that has saturated the market since Blade was released in 1998. Once again grounded Batman's mythology in dark and gritty realism with a new take on the Joker (Heath Ledger) and Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart). We have this film to thank for the Oscars expanded best picture nominee format, as the Academy knew they would have a revolution on their hands if a film as perfect as The Dark Knight was ever ignored again.10 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Inception: Nolan continued his stretch of following a Batman film with a stunningly original one of his own, and Inception broke boundaries and will do for Sci-Fi and Action films what The Matrix did for....Sci-Fi and Action films. The film's backdrop is as difficult to explain (and to film) as Memento's, but Nolan still knocked it out of the park. 10 Ninja Stars out of 10.
When The Dark Knight Rises is released next year we will see if Nolan can break the curse of the super hero trilogy the way Sam Raimi, Brett Ratner, and David S. Goyer were unable to do. If there is one guy who can do it, its him. Myself and Diomedes use a five film scale to determine and elite director, and the first five I listed at the top of this post are the only active directors to make the cut of having at least 5 elite films. But now Nolan has joined that list, and with some of the lows Ridley Scott and Ron Howard have had between their elite films, as well as the mediocre turn Clint Eastwood's directorial career has taken since he got to five, its possible Nolan is in the top three. When all is said and done, can Nolan possibly keep this streak alive and continue throwing perfect games? We will have to see, but for now, he has put himself squarely in the upper echelon of filmmakers working today.
-Maximus
Memento: The most inventive film of its year, the story is told in fragmented fashion going from end to beginning, and tells the story of a man with no memory of what led to a murder. The audience learns along with the protagonist. Very few directors could have made Memento work and work in a sensible way, but Nolan did. 9 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Insomnia: The only of his 8 films that he did not get a writing credit for, but a great film none the less. A traditional murder mystery with two twists, A) the setting is a town in Alaska during a period of round the clock daylight, and B) our hero, played by Al Pacino, accidentally shoots his partner in the beginning, and it just so happens that his partner was about to testify against him for corruption.The film is deep and layered and gets great performance from Pacino and Robin Williams cast against type as a killer, in addition it really put Hilary Swank's career into drive. 8 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Batman Begins: After the debacle of Batman & Robin, it seemed the Batman franchise was dead and gone, but instead Nolan brought it back in dark and Gothic fashion, he brought a sense of realism to the story, and while The Dark Knight gets all the credit, Batman Begins is a near perfect Batman film. Nolan took fantastical villains Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) and Ras Al Ghul (Liam Neeson and Ken Watanbe) and made them believably twisted. 10 Ninja Stars out of 10.
The Prestige: A personal favorite, the story of two magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman) who start as partners but end as rivals. There are very few films that came out in the 2000's that have been as intelligent as The Prestige. 10 Ninja Stars out of 10.
The Dark Knight: Many consider it to be Nolan's crown jewel. A perfect super hero film, the best in a genre that has saturated the market since Blade was released in 1998. Once again grounded Batman's mythology in dark and gritty realism with a new take on the Joker (Heath Ledger) and Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart). We have this film to thank for the Oscars expanded best picture nominee format, as the Academy knew they would have a revolution on their hands if a film as perfect as The Dark Knight was ever ignored again.10 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Inception: Nolan continued his stretch of following a Batman film with a stunningly original one of his own, and Inception broke boundaries and will do for Sci-Fi and Action films what The Matrix did for....Sci-Fi and Action films. The film's backdrop is as difficult to explain (and to film) as Memento's, but Nolan still knocked it out of the park. 10 Ninja Stars out of 10.
When The Dark Knight Rises is released next year we will see if Nolan can break the curse of the super hero trilogy the way Sam Raimi, Brett Ratner, and David S. Goyer were unable to do. If there is one guy who can do it, its him. Myself and Diomedes use a five film scale to determine and elite director, and the first five I listed at the top of this post are the only active directors to make the cut of having at least 5 elite films. But now Nolan has joined that list, and with some of the lows Ridley Scott and Ron Howard have had between their elite films, as well as the mediocre turn Clint Eastwood's directorial career has taken since he got to five, its possible Nolan is in the top three. When all is said and done, can Nolan possibly keep this streak alive and continue throwing perfect games? We will have to see, but for now, he has put himself squarely in the upper echelon of filmmakers working today.
-Maximus
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
From Stud to Dud - Part II
So last time I discussed younger actors and how they decide to ruin their blossoming career with bad choices for many different reasons. Now I would like to discuss seasoned actors, veterans of the cinema and how they get to the end of their career just to be in every movie that is offered to them. Before we start I want to say Samuel L. Jackson is an exception because he has always done any movie he has been asked to be in so he is just trending the same pattern he has always gone. In addition to that he is known for his cheesiness so it works for him. Let's talk about a few guys it doesn't work for.
One that has really bothered me has been Robert De Niro. In 1974 he started his amazing career playing young Vito Corleone in the Godfather Part II. Yes he had some other movies before that like Bang the Drums Slowly and Mean Streets but he shined in this role. He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Oscars for that performance. After that he had a host of movies made excellent by his great performances. There was Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull (which he won his second Oscar, this time for Best Actor), The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Awakenings, Backdraft, Cape Fear, A Bronx Tale, Casino, Heat, Sleepers, Ronin, Analyze This, Men of Honor, and Meet the Parents. Somebody try to tell me that isn't an amazing career. He hit it all besides romance. He had drama, suspense, action, horror, and even comedy. But now let's look at the problem. Between 1974-2000 he was in 46 movies with all those above gems included in that time period. Since 2001-present he has done 23 movies. Now the pace isn't necessarily the problem in this situation, it’s the quality. I dare you to name me one good quality movie he has made after 2000. You might say Meet the Fockers which was ok but you already had the first one which was better. Same goes for Analyze That. I named 17 movies I thought were good out of his 46 since 1974. That’s about a 37% success ratio. Now what about the last 10 years? If I give in and say 2 were good (which is more than I want to) he has about a 9% success ratio. What does this all mean? STOP MAKING BAD MOVIES!!!! It is frustrating seeing a quality actor throw away his integrity. Let's move on to another I would consider great.
Anthony Hopkins is one of my top actors. I love his stage presence. What I don't love is his lack of filter on picking bad movies to be in. He had a nice stretch where he had Silence of the Lambs (which he won the Best Actor Award at the Oscars), Dracula, Legends of the Fall, Amistad, The Mask of Zorro (yes I am throwing that in there because I enjoyed watching it in Spanish class every year), Meet Joe Black, Instinct, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (narrator), and Red Dragon. You will note I left out Hannibal because I thought it was garbage. After Red Dragon though which was in 2002 he has done 17 movies with only Fracture and maybe Thor to be considered good. How disappointing every time I see his name on a straight to dvd movie. Such a good actor wasting his talent. STOP MAKING BAD MOVIE ANTHONY!!!! Let's finish up with the man with the voice.
Morgan Freeman has one of the most distinctive voices in the movie industry. It almost always makes you think about his character and narration from The Shawshank Redemption. Morgan's problem isn't that he has just started picking bad movies. No he still does a lot of solid movies. His problem is that he has decided to do every movie possible. This is ok for Samuel L. Jackson but not such a prestigious actor as Morgan Freeman. In the last 10 years he has done close to 30 movies. About a 1/3 of them are good while the others seem to go straight to dvd. He is not as bad as De Niro lately but if he keeps on this trend people are going to wonder if he is a good actor or just another Samuel L. Jackson. So my advice is: STOP DOING 2 BAD MOVIES FOR EVERY 3 THAT YOU DO!!!!
If you have others, because I am sure there are more out there, please add to the conversation. If you disagree and think these actors are making the right moves, go talk to a shrink because you are clearly crazy.
-Diomedes
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Movie Review-J. Edgar
So starts Oscar season, and while some sure fire contenders (Moneyball, The Tree of Life) have already been released, J Edgar marks the unofficial start as we will begin getting contenders released each and every week. I should make it known to start I had the highest of expectations for everything Clint Eastwood touched until recently, his "Invictus" was average, and "Hereafter" was just poor. So my expectations have lowered a bit as it appears Eastwood is indeed human. However the same moderate expectations cannot be placed on Leonardo DiCaprio, who is on a Tom Hanks like run of movies with Gangs of New York, Catch Me if you Can, The Aviator, The Departed, Revolutionary Road, Blood Diamond, Shutter Island, and Inception being his most recent 8 movies. The Aviator wasn't great but he was terrific in it and the rest of that list consists of both great movies and great performances by DiCaprio. J Edgar tells the life story of the man who put the FBI on the map, and Leonardo DiCaprio knocks it out of the park, his voice and mannerisms are replicas of the notorious Hoover. The film goes over his entire life and touches on the more....questioned aspects of that life with respect and class. Eastwood does a great job of editing between the elder Hoover and the younger Hoover. In addition Eastwood touches on all the talking points of Hoover's career, from his dislike for Martin Luther King Jr to the Kennedy assassination to the Lindbergh baby kidnapping to the beginning of fingerprinting and forensics. The film gets good supporting performances from Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Josh Lucas as Charles Lindbergh, and Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) as Robert Kennedy. DiCaprio will surely gain deserved Oscar consideration for his role, and from my perspective he is the clear front runner for best actor at this moment (most contenders have not been released yet). However, as good as DiCaprio is, the best performance in the film belongs to Armie Hammer (Winklevoss twins in The Social Network) who plays Hoover's long time partner and more, Clyde Tolson. It will take a great performance to unseat him as Best Supporting Actor in my opinion. The only problem that I had with J Edgar is that is not the most exciting movie in the world if you are not a history fan, while Eastwood keeps the dialogue fast and interesting, there are lulls and the film probably could have been trimmed from its 2 hour and 15 minute running time. J Edgar gets 7 Ninja Stars out of 10.
J Edgar is directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Dustin Lance Black, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Lucas, Geoff Stultz, Ed Westwick, and Dermot Mulroney.
-Maximus
J Edgar is directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Dustin Lance Black, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Lucas, Geoff Stultz, Ed Westwick, and Dermot Mulroney.
-Maximus
Watch it Again Movie Review-Reign of Fire
This week has been utterly consumed by Skyrim for me, I have no power against it. For those of you not into video games, Skyrim is a free roaming game set in a land of dungeons, swords, magic,.....and dragons. The game got me thinking about how underused dragons are in pop culture. How to Train your Dragon was one of the best recent animated films, and the Eragon book series is a favorite of many friends of mine (movie was admittedly terrible), but outside of those two examples, there is not much to go off of. Recently a movie came out called "There Be Dragons", you can understand my excitement based off that title, and my sheer disappointment when I found out there are no dragons in it. So based off this recent thought process, it got me thinking of the 2002 action film "Reign of Fire" starring Matthew McConaughey and a pre-stardom Christian Bale. The story is that the world is ravaged by dragons when the King dragon is awakened by miners in London, and the world quickly becomes post apocalyptic. Bale plays the leader of a small camp of survivors who hide in fear of the dragons. Things are going along just fine when an American crew led by McConaughey (with a mean looking shaved head) shows up and lets the survivors know he has tracked the boss dragon here and intends on killing it. In stark contrast to Bale's group, McConaughey relishes killing dragons, not hiding from them. Bale and McConaughey clash over their differing styles, and you get great performances from Bale, a pre-300 Gerard Butler, and surprisingly enough, from McConaughey. While most people rip McConaughey for his comedy and rom-com's, his performances in serious films are not too bad, I cite this as well as the horror film "Frailty" as examples. While the film offers up nothing short of what you would expect in regards to cheese, it is very effective. The dragons look great and the characters are realistic and well portrayed. In addition, "Reign of Fire" has one of the best deaths in the history of film, and one that is even better if you watched the trailer for the film as one of the big points of the preview immediately precedes said death. I will never say Reign of Fire should have won Oscars or been film of the year, but it is a fun, crazy, unique ride though a world I wish we saw more of in film.
Reign of Fire is directed by Rob Bowen, and stars Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Gerard Butler, and Izabella Scorupco.
-Maximus
Reign of Fire is directed by Rob Bowen, and stars Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Gerard Butler, and Izabella Scorupco.
-Maximus
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
From Stud To Dud
One thing that really irks me in the movie business is when an actor or actress is so promising or has somehow pulled off a few solid movies and then just picks up a string of bad movies and performances. I mean you're riding high after a couple of good movies or performances and then you decide "hey I feel like searching out my artistic side" or "this studio is offering me a lot of money to take this role". Then comes the downfall of a promising star. I want to dispute the thought that may come quickly to your mind when I throw the $ sign out there.
First look at it short term. You already have a bunch of money if you have a few good films under your belt so your definitely not starving. If you don't take this terrible role with the high dollar promise, I guarantee another offer will come along. It may not offer as much but again what's the difference between $10 million and $15 million? Heck I will take 1% of that right now and be happy! Now let's look at the long term effects. By taking that terrible role you have disgruntled your fan base, making for a less desirable appeal, and in-turn not landing you any blockbusters thereby diminishing your worth and total life income. So by that poor choice you not only alienate your fans but you lower your life long income by getting greedy at an early stage in your career.
This is a broad topic so I want to stick to younger actors right now and I will expand to career actors next week. Let me now give you some examples of what I am talking about. Ryan Reynolds. I think he is an awesome actor and has so much potential. I understand the ladies think he is a heart throb which is a plus for him. He has a good quick wit which makes him funny but he can use that in a serious manner too. With all his attributes and his naturally smooth presence on screen, why does he do every role thrown at him? He is a character in 3 different comic book movies. That is excessive especially since they were all lame characters in bad movies. His Deadpool was lame in Wolverine, his funny guy in Blade 3 was ok at best but the movie sucked, and need I say anything about such a loser super hero as Green Lantern? So stop taking bad movies Ryan and do one of two things: get back to comedy type films or break out and do a very serious role. If the serious role doesn't work, because they don't for everyone (Jim Carrey in The Majestic), go back to your strong point and at least you can say you tried. But if it does work maybe we get the next person to take the reins from Tom Hanks who had a career path that went along those same lines.
Another guy who fell off the scene and had some great movies before that happened was Cuba Gooding Jr. I mean he was in Jerry Maguire, Men of Honor, As Good As it Gets, and Instinct. What happened? All I see him in now is movies that are released straight to dvd. Even if he was never offered another good role, STOP doing straight to dvd movies! It brings down your credibility and puts a dark stain on an overall good career. Either way he doesn't need the money and I guarantee after his endeavors in the straight to dvd movies, no one is "Showing him the money".
Now for the Artsy example. Edward Norton. The guy is awesome. A powerful and very talented actor who is in numerous good movies like Primal Fear, Fight Club, American History X, and Red Dragon to name a few. What does he do with his talent? Squanders it on stupid Indy movies that a handful of people see. Oh that's great that everyone loves him at the Cannes festival but who cares about that? If you ask me that whole festival is for B movies that won't make it in the box office. Once in a while a gem will come out of there but otherwise they are just movies with people trying to touch you with some deep artistic message. I mean that’s great that they have that festival and that actors can explore their artistic side but after you have done one of those movies or even two then come back to the real thing. Pull a Darth Vader and go from the light to the dark and then back to the light side of the movie industry. I just feel, and I believe that there are others out there, that an actor with such talent as Edward Norton has shouldn't waste it on movies a total of 100 people see.
I hope this wasn't an all-out rant but when your good, stay good and make millions happy. I am sure that some people won't agree with me on this so whether you do or don't, leave a comment and let me know. I will resume this topic on a larger scale next week because there are many actors that have had amazing careers and in their later years in life have decided to do many a bad film. Not just one or two but numerous which really leaves me dumbfounded but that is a discussion for next week.
-Diomedes
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
What Video Games Should be Movies?
In the land of video games, it seems as if every super hero film or big budget movie gets a video game tie in. For the most part, these games are quickly and cheaply made, trying to cash in on the love people have for the film. Its actually hard to think of a good video game based off a movie, but yet they keep coming out, month after month. The same can be said for movies based off video games. Once and a while you get a film like Mortal Kombat, cheesy and silly but yet fun and equally representative of the game, but most of the time you get House of the Dead, Silent Hill, BloodRayne, or Street Fighter. However more and more games that come out are basically movies you control. There is stellar acting, story lines, and plot twists, in addition more and more Hollywood talent is getting involved in video games. Everyone from Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) to Sam Worthington (Avatar) to Ice Cube (Friday) to Aaron Stanton (Mad Men) have been involved in a game not based off a movie. So the question becomes, with video games becoming more and more movie like, what games should be turned into movies? Here is the list of games I think would be best served becoming movies and the people I think should be involved.
-Gears of War: The GOW trilogy were epic war games about a race of creatures that came from the planet's core to attack humanity, and the force who fought against it. The series came with memorable deaths of beloved characters and emotional moments of loss and sacrifice. If given the LOTR treatment (trilogy all filmed at once) I think GOW could become a great movie franchise. Mickey Rourke or Bruce Willis would make great choices as lead character Marcus Phoenix. A director like Bryan Singer would be terrific at showing the bond between brothers and the keeping the effects realistic.
-Uncharted: The story of Nathan Drake is basically the video game version of Indiana Jones. Drake is a treasure hunter who is the descendant of Sir Francis Drake. The game is full of action and twists and wry humor. The main thing about making Uncharted into a quality film would be the right casting of Nathan Drake, you need a smart ass action hero who can convincingly crack one liners or free fall off cliffs. Mark Wahlberg was recently attached but has since left the project. My personal choices would be Nathan Fillion (Firefly) or Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) for Drake.
-God of War: Another trilogy rooted heavily in its mythology, it tells the story of Kratos who ascends to the throne of God of War, only to find out the Gods are against him. Doing this well would take one of the big guns in the directors chair, Spielberg and Cameron come to mind.
-Shadow of the Colossus: A bit of a sleeper in that its not as well known of a game. It was released for Playstation 2 almost ten years ago. I tells the story of a man who loses the love of his life. He is told he he can bring her back if he hunts and kills the 12 colossus. He does this begrudgingly as the colossus are massive and giant creatures but are are harmless if left unprovoked. Picture hunting and killing massive, gentle dogs who only attack to defend themselves. The movie would need to show the emotional roller coaster of the main character who,while he has noble intentions, is committing terrible acts. David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) would be a great director for a film of this magnitude.
-Dead Space: Dead Space could have been a typical infested space ship game, but instead was a smartly written and horrifyingly unique game. It focuses on strategic dismemberment and shows those humans you trust could be just as dangerous as the necromorphs who hunt you. DJ Caruso is attached to direct, but I personally think Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) would be a better choice, he could do the terror but also could do a solid job showing main protagonist Isaac Clark's descent into madness.
-Bioshock: Possibly the best idea on this list. Bioshock had a beginning and an end so beautiful it makes most films jealous with envy. The game focuses on an underwater community in the 1940's whose former residents have been reduced to rage filled murderers while the city around them crumbles. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has been circling the project for a long time but due to its necessarily high budget, it has stalled. My personal choice for director would once again be Steven Spielberg, but Verbinski is not a bad choice.
-Red Dead Redemption: The game is already basically a movie, a Western about John Marston, a family man who is forced by the government to hunt his old gang of murderers and thieves, despite leaving that life behind. The conflict between the main character's old life and new life would be great on film. Karl Urban (LOTR, Bourne Supremacy) would be a great John Marston. Clint Eastwood would be great as Dutch, the films main villain and a father figure to John, Eastwood would also fit great in the directors chair. From the many characters you encounter in the game, there would be roles that would perfectly fit Zach Galifinakis, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Sam Elliot, and Javier Bardem.
While there are hundreds of other games I would like to discuss here, we will save this for a future post, What Video Games Should be Movies 2: The Reckoning. In that post I will break down Grand Theft Auto, Homefront, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, and many more.
-Maximus
-Gears of War: The GOW trilogy were epic war games about a race of creatures that came from the planet's core to attack humanity, and the force who fought against it. The series came with memorable deaths of beloved characters and emotional moments of loss and sacrifice. If given the LOTR treatment (trilogy all filmed at once) I think GOW could become a great movie franchise. Mickey Rourke or Bruce Willis would make great choices as lead character Marcus Phoenix. A director like Bryan Singer would be terrific at showing the bond between brothers and the keeping the effects realistic.
-Uncharted: The story of Nathan Drake is basically the video game version of Indiana Jones. Drake is a treasure hunter who is the descendant of Sir Francis Drake. The game is full of action and twists and wry humor. The main thing about making Uncharted into a quality film would be the right casting of Nathan Drake, you need a smart ass action hero who can convincingly crack one liners or free fall off cliffs. Mark Wahlberg was recently attached but has since left the project. My personal choices would be Nathan Fillion (Firefly) or Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) for Drake.
-God of War: Another trilogy rooted heavily in its mythology, it tells the story of Kratos who ascends to the throne of God of War, only to find out the Gods are against him. Doing this well would take one of the big guns in the directors chair, Spielberg and Cameron come to mind.
-Shadow of the Colossus: A bit of a sleeper in that its not as well known of a game. It was released for Playstation 2 almost ten years ago. I tells the story of a man who loses the love of his life. He is told he he can bring her back if he hunts and kills the 12 colossus. He does this begrudgingly as the colossus are massive and giant creatures but are are harmless if left unprovoked. Picture hunting and killing massive, gentle dogs who only attack to defend themselves. The movie would need to show the emotional roller coaster of the main character who,while he has noble intentions, is committing terrible acts. David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) would be a great director for a film of this magnitude.
-Dead Space: Dead Space could have been a typical infested space ship game, but instead was a smartly written and horrifyingly unique game. It focuses on strategic dismemberment and shows those humans you trust could be just as dangerous as the necromorphs who hunt you. DJ Caruso is attached to direct, but I personally think Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) would be a better choice, he could do the terror but also could do a solid job showing main protagonist Isaac Clark's descent into madness.
-Bioshock: Possibly the best idea on this list. Bioshock had a beginning and an end so beautiful it makes most films jealous with envy. The game focuses on an underwater community in the 1940's whose former residents have been reduced to rage filled murderers while the city around them crumbles. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has been circling the project for a long time but due to its necessarily high budget, it has stalled. My personal choice for director would once again be Steven Spielberg, but Verbinski is not a bad choice.
-Red Dead Redemption: The game is already basically a movie, a Western about John Marston, a family man who is forced by the government to hunt his old gang of murderers and thieves, despite leaving that life behind. The conflict between the main character's old life and new life would be great on film. Karl Urban (LOTR, Bourne Supremacy) would be a great John Marston. Clint Eastwood would be great as Dutch, the films main villain and a father figure to John, Eastwood would also fit great in the directors chair. From the many characters you encounter in the game, there would be roles that would perfectly fit Zach Galifinakis, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Sam Elliot, and Javier Bardem.
While there are hundreds of other games I would like to discuss here, we will save this for a future post, What Video Games Should be Movies 2: The Reckoning. In that post I will break down Grand Theft Auto, Homefront, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, and many more.
-Maximus
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
November is the Start of Oscar Season
With today being November 1st, it means we will start getting a good amount of Oscar movies in the next few weeks. We have seen a few already, but the heavy hitters are still to come. What follows is a breakdown of what to expect in the next few months and what we have already seen that may come into play.
-Lets start with the best picture race. This year instead of a locked ten films, the number will be somewhere between five and ten, depending on how many first place votes each film gets. Unlike the last two years, we won't get an animated film in the top ten, but a few movies already seem like locks. Already released are The Ides of March, Moneyball, and The Tree of Life. Both The Tree of Life and Ides of March looked like solid contenders, but have faded a bit since their release. Moneyball is still very much in play, and could be a contender for Picture, Actor, Screenplay, and Director. The Help was a huge fan favorite, it seems like it may be a Blind Side like sleeper that could do well when nominations are announced. Other films like Drive and 50/50 are in the mix but doubtful to actually make the cut.
-The coming weeks bring J Edgar from Clint Eastwood which should score a lot of nominations. A Dangerous Method stars Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender and should score nominations in Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Actress. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy comes out as well soon and may get some big awards including Best Actor for Gary Oldman.
-December should also throw a lot of nominees in the mix. David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may come up with some nominations. We also get the Matt Damon weeper We Bought A Zoo and the Angelina Jolie directed film In the Land of Blood and Honey. Steven Spielberg finally returns to directing with the WWII drama War Horse as well.
-Some other smaller films will come into the mix, some possibilities are The Artist with John Goodman, Anonymous with Rhys Ifans, Melancholia with Kiefer Sutherland, Gerard Butler in Coriolanus, and Hugo from Martin Scorsese.
-The Best Actress competition is likely already between two people, Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady and Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs, with most people feeling Streep has it locked 4 months before the awards.
-One dark horse keeps me guessing as well, remember when Lord of the Rings got snubbed two years in a row, then cleaned up the last year with Return of the King? What about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2? It was an extremely dark and well done movie, and while the series has not always been all high points, it has a unique place in pop culture and when it was done well, it was done very well. While I doubt it wins any major awards, I don't think nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Daniel Radcliffe), Best Supporting Actress (Emma Watson), and Best Supporting Actors (Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman) are out of the question.
Comment below if you feel I left any big contenders out, as no doubt some last minute smaller films will fly under the radar until the New Year comes.
-Maximus
-Lets start with the best picture race. This year instead of a locked ten films, the number will be somewhere between five and ten, depending on how many first place votes each film gets. Unlike the last two years, we won't get an animated film in the top ten, but a few movies already seem like locks. Already released are The Ides of March, Moneyball, and The Tree of Life. Both The Tree of Life and Ides of March looked like solid contenders, but have faded a bit since their release. Moneyball is still very much in play, and could be a contender for Picture, Actor, Screenplay, and Director. The Help was a huge fan favorite, it seems like it may be a Blind Side like sleeper that could do well when nominations are announced. Other films like Drive and 50/50 are in the mix but doubtful to actually make the cut.
-The coming weeks bring J Edgar from Clint Eastwood which should score a lot of nominations. A Dangerous Method stars Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender and should score nominations in Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Actress. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy comes out as well soon and may get some big awards including Best Actor for Gary Oldman.
-December should also throw a lot of nominees in the mix. David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may come up with some nominations. We also get the Matt Damon weeper We Bought A Zoo and the Angelina Jolie directed film In the Land of Blood and Honey. Steven Spielberg finally returns to directing with the WWII drama War Horse as well.
-Some other smaller films will come into the mix, some possibilities are The Artist with John Goodman, Anonymous with Rhys Ifans, Melancholia with Kiefer Sutherland, Gerard Butler in Coriolanus, and Hugo from Martin Scorsese.
-The Best Actress competition is likely already between two people, Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady and Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs, with most people feeling Streep has it locked 4 months before the awards.
-One dark horse keeps me guessing as well, remember when Lord of the Rings got snubbed two years in a row, then cleaned up the last year with Return of the King? What about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2? It was an extremely dark and well done movie, and while the series has not always been all high points, it has a unique place in pop culture and when it was done well, it was done very well. While I doubt it wins any major awards, I don't think nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Daniel Radcliffe), Best Supporting Actress (Emma Watson), and Best Supporting Actors (Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman) are out of the question.
Comment below if you feel I left any big contenders out, as no doubt some last minute smaller films will fly under the radar until the New Year comes.
-Maximus
Return of the Movie Ninjas
Welcome back! We are sorry for the long gap without any new posts, but we felt that the Movie Ninjas needed a makeover. When we started here we wanted to give thoughts and opinions and have poignant discussions about movies, however over time, it turned into repetitive posts about what was being released or how the box office turned out. Somewhere along the line we turned what was supposed to be informal discussions about the movie industry into homework and a news feed. In addition to lots of happenings in our lives, the posts felt more like a job then the fun discussions we have between each other each and every day, and because of that we missed a week, then a month. But after that we knew something needed to change, and if you wanted to know how much money Transformers 6: Battle of Idaho made, you can get that anywhere. What you cannot get anywhere is the unique discussions and opinions myself and Diomedes bring to the table. So from here on out we promise multiple posts per week that have no pattern or repetitiveness. They will be rankings of the best actors and why we put them there, previews of what looks good next summer, our opinion on why Meryl Streep is so much better than every other actress. And we will start with my post about what to expect from this coming Oscar season. We cannot be more excited to be back with a refreshed outlook, and we hope that if anyone is still checking in regularly, you will be as happy to read our posts as we are to write them. As always, if you have any opinions on what it is we can do to make things better or if there are any posts you would like to see us make, let us know in the comments.
The Movie Ninjas-Back and Better than Ever
Monday, July 18, 2011
Movie Review- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
As the final film in the Harry Potter series, Deathly Hallows Part 2 needed to be fantastic, and since going into this, 2 of the 3 films directed by David Yates have been very good, I had high hopes. The first part of the Deathly Hallows was fantastic, and in my opinion the best of the Harry Potter series so far. This part picks up where the last left off, at Dobby's funeral. It follows Harry, Hermione, and Ron on a trip to Gringott's bank, and then back to the central location of Harry Potter, Hogwart's school of witchcraft and wizardry. This is were the last stand takes place, when Harry and the students and the Order of the Phoenix fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Anyone who has read the books knows how it all ends, but for those who haven't, I won't go any farther and ruin it here. Safe to say its a very emotional and satisfying end to the series. As a fan of the books, I have some minor gripes with ways they chose to put things in the movie, but those are not for a movie review. Strictly as the movie goes, it was done very well. The F/X are terrific, and all the actors from child to veteran have grown with the series and gotten much better. Alan Rickman alone gives a supporting actor worthy performance in his final turn as Severus Snape, who is now the headmaster of a Auschwitz like Hogwarts. Other actors who have been with the series since the beginning also get their due after being absent from the previous film all together. Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom and Maggie Smith as Professor Mcgonagall get more to do here then in the rest of the series combined, and the film is better for it. I give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 9 Ninja Stars out of 10, and personally bid a due to a series that I have loved for a long time. The film is directed by David Yates, and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Smith, Matthew Lewis, Michael Gambon, Warwick Davis, John Hurt, Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Isaacs, Tom Felton, Kelly Macdonald, Ciaran Hinds, Bonnie Wright, Robbie Coltrane, Jim Broadbent, Gary Oldman, and David Thewlis.
New DVD Review-Battle: Los Angeles
Battle: Los Angeles is a war movie with aliens, not an alien movie, and it shows. Instead of focusing much on the extra terrestrials, they focus on the war and film it like a war movie. This is the aspect of Battle: LA that makes it worth watching. You feel every soldier who dies and get to know each and every soldier as the movie goes on. The actors do a great job, especially Aaron Eckhart, who plays the aged veteran leader very well. The battle scenes are done well and are very intense. Having said all of this though, no matter how great the battle scenes and the acting are, they cannot overcome just how stupid the aliens look. Robot aliens....really? Robot aliens are what directors put into a movie when they don't have any idea what visual effects they should use to make things that look like aliens. These look like a cross between the bad guys from The Fifth Element and the drones from Empire Strikes Back, and they are done terribly. I have never seen an alien robot soldier, but my guess is they look intimidating or scary, not ridiculous. If the creatures were done well, then Battle: Los Angeles could have easily been an 8 star movie, but due to the ridiculousness of the aliens, it gets 5 Ninja Stars out of 10. The film is directed by Jonathan Liebesman and stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodgriguez, Michael Pena, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo, and Jim Parrack.
-Maximus
-Maximus
New DVD Review-The Adjustment Bureau
The Adjustment Bureau takes a short story by Philip K. Dick, and turns it into a two hour movie. At times in the film it shows, many year gaps are needed to advance the plot, and there are times when it feels there is a decent amount of filler. Having said that, the best parts of the film are those when Emily Blunt and Matt Damon are on screen interacting together, they have a great chemistry and you want to root for them to be together. The supporting performances by Anthony Mackie, Michael Kelly, John Slattery, and Terence Stamp are very well done. As a nice getaway on a Saturday afternoon, The Adjustment Bureau works great and will keep you entertained, just don't expect a deep Sci-Fi thriller like Minority Report, which was also based on a Philip K. Dick story. I give it 5 Ninja Stars out of 10. The film is directed by George Nolfi and stars Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Anthony Mackie, Michael Kelly, John Slattery, and Terrence Stamp.
-Maximus
-Maximus
New DVD Review-Black Death
Black Death is an independent film starring Sean Bean as Ulric, a knight for the church during the black plague. He is tasked with leading a team into a town which is somehow not affected by the plague, and determining what black magic they are doing to remain unaffected. I assumed Black Death would be a Sean Bean vehicle to get him back in period garb and allow him to swing a sword, however there was not a lot of action in the movie, and the film felt pretty short, having said that though, it was a direct movie that got straight to the point. They did not add battles for fluff, and fought only when necessary. The acting is top notch and the darkness of the film is palpable. I enjoyed Black Death and would recommend it. I give it 7 Ninja Stars out of 10. The film is directed by Christopher Smith and stars Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, and David Warner.
-Maximus
-Maximus
Box Office Recap-July 18th, 2011
To no one's surprise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 won the weekend in dramatic fashion. HP7 P2 broke the record for biggest midnight opening, biggest first day, and biggest opening weekend. While other movies have sold more tickets, with inflation and 3D/Imax prices, HP7 P2 made more than any other movie has in its first 3 days with $168 million according to the AP. With it being the last HP film, there is a good chance it will hold up well as in addition to those seeing it for the first time, many fans will go back and see it a second....and third time as well. In second place was Transformers 3 with just over $21 million, pushing it over $300 million. In third and fourth place were Horrible Bosses and Zookeeper, Cars 2 rounded out the top 5. The other new wide release, Winnie the Pooh, made $8 million for 6th place, since the film cost $30 million to make, it should be able to get close to that back. The question I would ask is how in the world Winnie the Pooh shot in the same format as the old Winnie and with the same voices cost $30 million to make?
Next weekend we get Captain America and Friends with Benefits. Its a tough call to determine if Captain will make enough to dethrone HP, but expecting a decent drop for its second weekend, Captain America should hold on, I predict Captain America, Harry Potter, Friends with Benefits, Zookeeper, and Horrible Bosses will be next weeks top 5. Check back later for reviews of Harry Potter, The Adjustment Bureau, Battle: Los Angeles, and Black Death.
-Maximus
Next weekend we get Captain America and Friends with Benefits. Its a tough call to determine if Captain will make enough to dethrone HP, but expecting a decent drop for its second weekend, Captain America should hold on, I predict Captain America, Harry Potter, Friends with Benefits, Zookeeper, and Horrible Bosses will be next weeks top 5. Check back later for reviews of Harry Potter, The Adjustment Bureau, Battle: Los Angeles, and Black Death.
-Maximus
Friday, July 15, 2011
Opening This Weekend - 7/15/11
So this week we have two movies opening making it easy on me. One is a goliath and the other is a kid's movie. Originally you might have ranked Harry Potter into a kid's movie category but not anymore. It is very dark, with this one promising to be the most bloody and sorrowful of them all. The kid's movie I refer to is Winnie the Pooh.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part II
Harry Potter and crew are back for the 8th and final installment of the Harry Potter series. Harry will finally confront the Dark Lord once and for all. There will be the forces of good, fighting out of Hogwartz which is the last stronghold that has not fallen to the Dark Lord, against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The wizards and witches will have to fend for themselves while their champion continues his search for the horcrux's that sustain Voldemort's evil life. There will be a showdown but what will happen? Will Harry have to make the ultimate sacrifice to rid the world of the most vile and evil wizard to ever walk the earth? You'll just have to hit the theaters to see. Being that I read the books I know what happens but that doesn't diminish the amount of excitement I have to see this movie. If it is even remotely well done, the storyline will propel it to a solid level of awesomeness. If they try to spice it up in their own fashion then they may in-turn ruin a no brainer of a great movie. That has happened before folks, just ask Brett Ratner... So this movie is getting 9 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale.
Check out the trailer at:
http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/mainsite/index.html
Winnie the Pooh
Pooh and the gang set out to save Christopher Robins from an imaginary culprit. They have an adventure along the way. Not much else to say about this movie. It is only 70 minutes long and seems like the typical Winnie the Pooh TV show just extended another 40 minutes and without commercials. I use to enjoy this cartoon but I have kind of grown out of its age bracket. On the Viewability Scale it would get 3 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check the trailer out at:
http://disney.go.com/pooh/
So to recap we have:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part II 9 Ninja Stars
Winnie the Pooh 3 Ninja Stars
Check back next week for previews on Captain America: The First Avenger and Friends With Benefits. I'm excited for Captain America so we could have another good weekend coming up. If you see any of the movies above please comment in a way that won't ruin the movie for others (especially if you comment on Winnie the Pooh...).
-Diomedes
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part II
Harry Potter and crew are back for the 8th and final installment of the Harry Potter series. Harry will finally confront the Dark Lord once and for all. There will be the forces of good, fighting out of Hogwartz which is the last stronghold that has not fallen to the Dark Lord, against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The wizards and witches will have to fend for themselves while their champion continues his search for the horcrux's that sustain Voldemort's evil life. There will be a showdown but what will happen? Will Harry have to make the ultimate sacrifice to rid the world of the most vile and evil wizard to ever walk the earth? You'll just have to hit the theaters to see. Being that I read the books I know what happens but that doesn't diminish the amount of excitement I have to see this movie. If it is even remotely well done, the storyline will propel it to a solid level of awesomeness. If they try to spice it up in their own fashion then they may in-turn ruin a no brainer of a great movie. That has happened before folks, just ask Brett Ratner... So this movie is getting 9 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale.
Check out the trailer at:
http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/mainsite/index.html
Winnie the Pooh
Pooh and the gang set out to save Christopher Robins from an imaginary culprit. They have an adventure along the way. Not much else to say about this movie. It is only 70 minutes long and seems like the typical Winnie the Pooh TV show just extended another 40 minutes and without commercials. I use to enjoy this cartoon but I have kind of grown out of its age bracket. On the Viewability Scale it would get 3 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check the trailer out at:
http://disney.go.com/pooh/
So to recap we have:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part II 9 Ninja Stars
Winnie the Pooh 3 Ninja Stars
Check back next week for previews on Captain America: The First Avenger and Friends With Benefits. I'm excited for Captain America so we could have another good weekend coming up. If you see any of the movies above please comment in a way that won't ruin the movie for others (especially if you comment on Winnie the Pooh...).
-Diomedes
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Summer Movie Cage Fight-Round 2, Quarters, and Finals
We start round 2 off with a battle of heavyweights, Magneto our 4 seed vs Captain America our 6 seed. A classic battle of a hero vs a super villain. Captain recognizes right off the bat that Magneto spent time in Germany. He wrongly assumes Erik is a Nazi and starts to have WWII flashbacks, he charges in aggressively, however Magneto uses the cage bars to his advantage and is able to levitate around the cage. Captain's frustrations mount, but he was smart and did not bring a firearm into the cage, knowing Magneto could use it against him. Magneto realizes that while its an unusual metal, Captain's shield is still controllable, Magneto uses it to get Captain's arm stuck in the cage bars. He bends the cage bars around Captain, crushing him. Captain attempts to force the bars back, but Magneto is too strong, and he finishes Captain off in gruesome fashion.
Next is 3 vs 5, Thor vs. Voldemort. Voldemort starts off right away throwing killing curses at Thor, Thor deflects them all with Mojinor. Thor brings in a righteous storm, the wind picks up and Voldemort struggles to keep hold of his wand. Thor charges at Voldemort with Mojinor, and Voldemort attempts to block with his wand, however the hammer crushes the wand, with Voldemort left defenseless, Thor vanquishes him to a prison is Asgard.
Next 1 seed Optimus Prime takes on the 9 seed, the monster from Super 8. Both are the same size and don't have much room to move around the cage. In a clash of monster arms vs metal arms, neither seems to gain much of an advantage. Seeing that the fight is going nowhere, Optimus turns into a truck and begins to do circles around the monster while the monster clings to the roof of the cage, spinning trying to get leverage on Optimus. It takes Optimus a few minutes, but he gets behind the monster and draws his sword, finishing the monster with a sword through the thorax.
The last match of the second round is 2 seed Harry Potter vs 10 seed Conan the Barbarian. In another battle of range vs close quarters battle, Conan has to dodge many spells flying his way. Harry knows to beat Conan he needs to keep him at a distance. As stupify and disarming spells fly around him, Conan knows he is going to have to take a risk to beat the boy who lived. Conan narrowly avoids a disarm spell with a summersault to the right, as he stands up he heaves his sword with both arms at Harry, but the sword misses by inches. Conan, knowing he is beaten, bows his head to Harry and then charges, Harry hits Conan with a stupify spell, giving Harry the narrow victory.
The quarters come down to our top 4 seeds. Our first is the 2-3 match up, Harry Potter vs Thor. Thor walks into the cage cocky and defiant, with Mojinor down at his side. Harry tries to end the fight early and throws a disarming spell at Thor, the spell catches Thor right across the chest, but nothing happens. Thor laughs, knowing that even the most powerful wizard can't affect a God. Thor throws Mojinor at Harry who dives out of the way. Harry, knowing he has very little chance, throws his honor out the window and attempts the unforgiveable killing curse on Thor, however this also does not even phase the Prince of Asgard. As Thor gets closer Harry attempts to take Thor in hand to hand combat, but when his fists pound harmlessly off Thor's chest, Harry bows to one knee and yields, advancing Thor to the finals.
Next Magneto takes on our 1 seed, Optimus Prime. When the two match up in the cage, the size difference is comical, as Optimus dwarfs Magneto, however Magneto remains cool and collected despite his size disadvantage. The referee rings the bell just as Magneto raises a single open fist, Optimus looks perplexed as Magneto closes his fist, Optimus' arms close in around his torso, his legs fold up behind him, and Optimus falls to the ground. Despite what must be pure agony for Optimus, he does not scream out. Magneto has his foe beaten, but instead of just letting the battle be over, he crushes Optimus mercilessly. When Optimus was left as just a sardine can, Magneto walks out of the cage with out another word.
With both our quarter final match ups being complete mismatches, we have to hope our finals match is worthy of the characters it involves. Our 4 seed Magneto beat Jake Longerhan, Captain America, and Optimus Prime on his way to the finals, with Captain America giving him his only real challenge. Thor took down Megatron, Voldemort and Harry Potter. The referee calls for the fighters, Magneto comes into the cage. Thor comes from the locker room, but he comes in without his hammer Mojinor, or any of his armor. Thor is wearing just his blue spandex. Magneto smiles, showing no surprise or fear. As the bell rings, Thor instantly starts calling in some weather related assistance, a large tornado starts up in the distance. Magneto begins to bend bars of the cage around himself, by the time the tornado is on top of him, he is secured safely in his self made cage. Thor realizes the tornado is not going to destroy Magneto, so he lets it dissipate. Magneto unfolds the bars, and begins using them like tentacles whipping at Thor, Thor avoids them with some nifty rolls and ducks. The battle rages on for nearly twenty minutes, Thor gets some punches in, and Magneto connects with a few of his cage bar tentacles, but neither is heavily damaged and both are showing signs of fatigue. Thor, knowing there is no advantage for either fighter, shoves a fist to the sky, and in a flash of lighting, Mojinor flies into Thor's hand, he charges. Magneto sees his chance just as Thor is upon him, Thor raises Mojinor and brings it down upon Magneto, as the hammer falls, Magneto pushes his hands up in the air and pushes back on the hammer. The hammer is stuck straight up in the air, caught between the brute force of Thor and the magnetic control of Magneto. Like a tense arm wrestling match, the hammer doesn't lean towards either side, but as time goes on, the hammer begins to shake violently from the stress being put on it. Magneto, knowing eventually Thor's deity like strength will overpower him, blinks his eyes, his helmet begins to rise from his head, you can see the panic on Thor's face, but he cannot release the handle of the hammer. With a thrust of his head the helmet flies directly into the face of Thor, causing his arms to slack, the sheer force of Magneto's power sends the hammer slamming down into Thor's unprotected head. Thor falls helplessly back to the mat, the referee counts 1, 2, 3, and declares Magneto the winner.
So after all of this, Magneto wins the title of most powerful summer blockbuster character. Disagree with my results? Feel free to let me know in the comments section.
Tune in next summer when we see Captain America and Thor back in action against Iron Man, Batman, Bane, Catwoman, Edward Cullen, Spock, Superman, Hawkeye, Loki, Zeus, Spiderman, Lizard, Ethan Hunt, Snake Eyes, and Stormshadow.
Next is 3 vs 5, Thor vs. Voldemort. Voldemort starts off right away throwing killing curses at Thor, Thor deflects them all with Mojinor. Thor brings in a righteous storm, the wind picks up and Voldemort struggles to keep hold of his wand. Thor charges at Voldemort with Mojinor, and Voldemort attempts to block with his wand, however the hammer crushes the wand, with Voldemort left defenseless, Thor vanquishes him to a prison is Asgard.
Next 1 seed Optimus Prime takes on the 9 seed, the monster from Super 8. Both are the same size and don't have much room to move around the cage. In a clash of monster arms vs metal arms, neither seems to gain much of an advantage. Seeing that the fight is going nowhere, Optimus turns into a truck and begins to do circles around the monster while the monster clings to the roof of the cage, spinning trying to get leverage on Optimus. It takes Optimus a few minutes, but he gets behind the monster and draws his sword, finishing the monster with a sword through the thorax.
The last match of the second round is 2 seed Harry Potter vs 10 seed Conan the Barbarian. In another battle of range vs close quarters battle, Conan has to dodge many spells flying his way. Harry knows to beat Conan he needs to keep him at a distance. As stupify and disarming spells fly around him, Conan knows he is going to have to take a risk to beat the boy who lived. Conan narrowly avoids a disarm spell with a summersault to the right, as he stands up he heaves his sword with both arms at Harry, but the sword misses by inches. Conan, knowing he is beaten, bows his head to Harry and then charges, Harry hits Conan with a stupify spell, giving Harry the narrow victory.
The quarters come down to our top 4 seeds. Our first is the 2-3 match up, Harry Potter vs Thor. Thor walks into the cage cocky and defiant, with Mojinor down at his side. Harry tries to end the fight early and throws a disarming spell at Thor, the spell catches Thor right across the chest, but nothing happens. Thor laughs, knowing that even the most powerful wizard can't affect a God. Thor throws Mojinor at Harry who dives out of the way. Harry, knowing he has very little chance, throws his honor out the window and attempts the unforgiveable killing curse on Thor, however this also does not even phase the Prince of Asgard. As Thor gets closer Harry attempts to take Thor in hand to hand combat, but when his fists pound harmlessly off Thor's chest, Harry bows to one knee and yields, advancing Thor to the finals.
Next Magneto takes on our 1 seed, Optimus Prime. When the two match up in the cage, the size difference is comical, as Optimus dwarfs Magneto, however Magneto remains cool and collected despite his size disadvantage. The referee rings the bell just as Magneto raises a single open fist, Optimus looks perplexed as Magneto closes his fist, Optimus' arms close in around his torso, his legs fold up behind him, and Optimus falls to the ground. Despite what must be pure agony for Optimus, he does not scream out. Magneto has his foe beaten, but instead of just letting the battle be over, he crushes Optimus mercilessly. When Optimus was left as just a sardine can, Magneto walks out of the cage with out another word.
With both our quarter final match ups being complete mismatches, we have to hope our finals match is worthy of the characters it involves. Our 4 seed Magneto beat Jake Longerhan, Captain America, and Optimus Prime on his way to the finals, with Captain America giving him his only real challenge. Thor took down Megatron, Voldemort and Harry Potter. The referee calls for the fighters, Magneto comes into the cage. Thor comes from the locker room, but he comes in without his hammer Mojinor, or any of his armor. Thor is wearing just his blue spandex. Magneto smiles, showing no surprise or fear. As the bell rings, Thor instantly starts calling in some weather related assistance, a large tornado starts up in the distance. Magneto begins to bend bars of the cage around himself, by the time the tornado is on top of him, he is secured safely in his self made cage. Thor realizes the tornado is not going to destroy Magneto, so he lets it dissipate. Magneto unfolds the bars, and begins using them like tentacles whipping at Thor, Thor avoids them with some nifty rolls and ducks. The battle rages on for nearly twenty minutes, Thor gets some punches in, and Magneto connects with a few of his cage bar tentacles, but neither is heavily damaged and both are showing signs of fatigue. Thor, knowing there is no advantage for either fighter, shoves a fist to the sky, and in a flash of lighting, Mojinor flies into Thor's hand, he charges. Magneto sees his chance just as Thor is upon him, Thor raises Mojinor and brings it down upon Magneto, as the hammer falls, Magneto pushes his hands up in the air and pushes back on the hammer. The hammer is stuck straight up in the air, caught between the brute force of Thor and the magnetic control of Magneto. Like a tense arm wrestling match, the hammer doesn't lean towards either side, but as time goes on, the hammer begins to shake violently from the stress being put on it. Magneto, knowing eventually Thor's deity like strength will overpower him, blinks his eyes, his helmet begins to rise from his head, you can see the panic on Thor's face, but he cannot release the handle of the hammer. With a thrust of his head the helmet flies directly into the face of Thor, causing his arms to slack, the sheer force of Magneto's power sends the hammer slamming down into Thor's unprotected head. Thor falls helplessly back to the mat, the referee counts 1, 2, 3, and declares Magneto the winner.
So after all of this, Magneto wins the title of most powerful summer blockbuster character. Disagree with my results? Feel free to let me know in the comments section.
Tune in next summer when we see Captain America and Thor back in action against Iron Man, Batman, Bane, Catwoman, Edward Cullen, Spock, Superman, Hawkeye, Loki, Zeus, Spiderman, Lizard, Ethan Hunt, Snake Eyes, and Stormshadow.
Summer Movie Cage Fight-Seeding and the First Round
In my box office recap I mentioned that I believe the boy wizard will beat Optimus Prime and Jack Sparrow's box office totals, but it got me thinking of another question, who of the three would win in a cage fight? Now if we were to just take all the main characters from our big summer box office films and pit them against each other, who wins? In order to have a tournament, we need seeding. I seeded the characters based off how awesome they are at fighting, and be warned, minor spoilers may be contained below.
1. Optimus Prime-Giant robot, can both use a sword and turn into a semi-truck, plus he can spout encouraging things like nobodies business.
2. Harry Potter-Has become quite a powerful wizard since the first book/movie. Seeded behind Optimus only because without his wand....he is worthless.
3. Thor-Well he is a God, and has a huge hammer. Seeded third because his father can take away his powers anytime he chooses.
4. Magneto-Can control metal objects, and has a helmet that keeps him from being controlled by telepaths.
5. Voldemort-The most powerful dark wizard since Slytherin himself......only that pesky boy wizard stands in his path.
6. Captain America-Super soldier who can throw his shield really hard, can also use a gun if he chooses.
7. Green Lantern-On paper his power of being able to create anything he wants should make him number 1, but he loses points for being lame, not to mention Hal Jordan's cockiness may be a hindrance in battle.
8. Charles Xavier-Professor X can control people and things using only his mind, his moral reluctance though may hurt him against most of these foes.
9. Super 8 Monster-Hard to tell how powerful the monster is based off just getting to see him briefly, but his spider like features and sheer size should make him a force to be reckoned with. Also once you touch him, you feel for him and he could use that.
10. Conan the Barbarian-If it was Swarzenegger, we would rank him 1, but we are not yet sure what this Conan brings to the table.
11. Priest-Vampire hunter, great gadgets, driven by hate. He can fight vampires, but what about the rest of this crew?
12. Jack Sparrow-Wit, swordplay, but his lack of physical strength means he may have to outwit to win.
13. Jake Longerhan-A cowboy with an alien blaster attached to his arm, enough said.
14. Megatron-Another large robot, loses ranking because Optimus keeps kicking his ass.
15. Po-The Kung Fu Panda himself has grown into quite the karate expert, he will need all his training.
16. Hobo-Well he has a shotgun and a nasty disposition......and that's it.
So the seeding is done, now the battle commences....
Our first battle is 1 vs 16, Optimus Prime versus the Hobo with a shotgun, not much of a battle as the Hobo's shotgun blasts bounce off Optimus like nothing, Optimus makes quick work of the Hobo, and then gives a speech honoring the fallen.
Next we have 2 vs 15, Harry Potter vs Po, Harry hits Po with a stun spell before Po can even get close, Harry then hits Po with a befuddlement charm and Po wanders out of the cage confused.
Next its 3 vs 14, Thor vs Megatron. The first close battle, Thor puts Megatron on his back a few times with his hammer, but as he was about to finish him, Starscream distracts the ref and hits Thor in the back with a chair. Thor is dazed and takes a few big hits from Megatron, however Mojinor has a mind of its own, and aids Thor while he is down taking out Starscream and knocking Megatron down in the process. Once Thor gets his wits back, he brings in a tornado that sweeps Megatron out of the cage and carries him to Asgard, once on Thor's home turf, Thor and Mojinor make quick work of Megatron, who ends up resembling a tin can.
In our 4 vs 13 battle, Magneto takes on Jake Longerhan, while Jake is quick with his pistol and gets some good shots off with his alien wrist blaster, Magneto realizes early on that both Jake's gun and blaster are made of metal, and turns them both on Longerhan, Magneto shows no mercy from there.
Next is 5 vs 12, Voldemort vs Jack Sparrow. In a battle of heavyweights, Jack prances out of the way of a few killing curses, he continues the dodging process for close to an hour, spouting incoherent sentences the entire time, after the first hour ends, Voldemort is mentally exhausted. Jack sees his chance and gets in close, but he doesn't go for the kill, instead he snatches Voldemort's wand, points it at Voldemort and says something no one in the vicinity can understand, the wand lights up a purple color and backfires, hitting Jack in the chest, Sparrow turns into a monkey and attempts to flee, however Voldemort will have none of it. He reclaims his wand and with the flick of a wrist, the monkey becomes nothing but a pile of clothes and gold teeth.
In the 6 vs 11 battle, we get Captain America vs Priest. This is a ranged battle, Captain's shield flies from one end of the cage to the other, while Priest's ninja star crosses narrowly miss Captain's head. After a lot of dodging, Priest is out of throwing stars, but Captain's shield just keeps coming back to him, with a strong throw the shield puts Priest down for the count.
In the 7 vs 10 match up, the Green Lantern Hal Jordan takes on Conan the Barbarian. Conan aggressively comes after Hal with his sword, Hal believes he can handle him so he has the ring create a sword of his own, however Conan is the better swordsman, and Hal realizes it too late, while he is trying to create something else to aid him, Conan takes advantage. With one swing of his sword, Conan gives us our first upset.
In our last match up of the first round, we get Professor X vs the Super 8 monster. Professor X knows physically he like a mouse going up against a lion, so he goes right to work trying to get into the monsters head. However the monster does not have a brain configuration that Charles can decode, as the monster charges, Xavier has to resort to attempting to use telekinesis, however there is nothing in the cage to throw at the monster, and before the audience has a chance to blink, Xavier is cocooned and hanging from the top of the cage.
This concludes the first round, but the subsequent rounds promise to be real nail biters. Check back later for the remaining battles!
1. Optimus Prime-Giant robot, can both use a sword and turn into a semi-truck, plus he can spout encouraging things like nobodies business.
2. Harry Potter-Has become quite a powerful wizard since the first book/movie. Seeded behind Optimus only because without his wand....he is worthless.
3. Thor-Well he is a God, and has a huge hammer. Seeded third because his father can take away his powers anytime he chooses.
4. Magneto-Can control metal objects, and has a helmet that keeps him from being controlled by telepaths.
5. Voldemort-The most powerful dark wizard since Slytherin himself......only that pesky boy wizard stands in his path.
6. Captain America-Super soldier who can throw his shield really hard, can also use a gun if he chooses.
7. Green Lantern-On paper his power of being able to create anything he wants should make him number 1, but he loses points for being lame, not to mention Hal Jordan's cockiness may be a hindrance in battle.
8. Charles Xavier-Professor X can control people and things using only his mind, his moral reluctance though may hurt him against most of these foes.
9. Super 8 Monster-Hard to tell how powerful the monster is based off just getting to see him briefly, but his spider like features and sheer size should make him a force to be reckoned with. Also once you touch him, you feel for him and he could use that.
10. Conan the Barbarian-If it was Swarzenegger, we would rank him 1, but we are not yet sure what this Conan brings to the table.
11. Priest-Vampire hunter, great gadgets, driven by hate. He can fight vampires, but what about the rest of this crew?
12. Jack Sparrow-Wit, swordplay, but his lack of physical strength means he may have to outwit to win.
13. Jake Longerhan-A cowboy with an alien blaster attached to his arm, enough said.
14. Megatron-Another large robot, loses ranking because Optimus keeps kicking his ass.
15. Po-The Kung Fu Panda himself has grown into quite the karate expert, he will need all his training.
16. Hobo-Well he has a shotgun and a nasty disposition......and that's it.
So the seeding is done, now the battle commences....
Our first battle is 1 vs 16, Optimus Prime versus the Hobo with a shotgun, not much of a battle as the Hobo's shotgun blasts bounce off Optimus like nothing, Optimus makes quick work of the Hobo, and then gives a speech honoring the fallen.
Next we have 2 vs 15, Harry Potter vs Po, Harry hits Po with a stun spell before Po can even get close, Harry then hits Po with a befuddlement charm and Po wanders out of the cage confused.
Next its 3 vs 14, Thor vs Megatron. The first close battle, Thor puts Megatron on his back a few times with his hammer, but as he was about to finish him, Starscream distracts the ref and hits Thor in the back with a chair. Thor is dazed and takes a few big hits from Megatron, however Mojinor has a mind of its own, and aids Thor while he is down taking out Starscream and knocking Megatron down in the process. Once Thor gets his wits back, he brings in a tornado that sweeps Megatron out of the cage and carries him to Asgard, once on Thor's home turf, Thor and Mojinor make quick work of Megatron, who ends up resembling a tin can.
In our 4 vs 13 battle, Magneto takes on Jake Longerhan, while Jake is quick with his pistol and gets some good shots off with his alien wrist blaster, Magneto realizes early on that both Jake's gun and blaster are made of metal, and turns them both on Longerhan, Magneto shows no mercy from there.
Next is 5 vs 12, Voldemort vs Jack Sparrow. In a battle of heavyweights, Jack prances out of the way of a few killing curses, he continues the dodging process for close to an hour, spouting incoherent sentences the entire time, after the first hour ends, Voldemort is mentally exhausted. Jack sees his chance and gets in close, but he doesn't go for the kill, instead he snatches Voldemort's wand, points it at Voldemort and says something no one in the vicinity can understand, the wand lights up a purple color and backfires, hitting Jack in the chest, Sparrow turns into a monkey and attempts to flee, however Voldemort will have none of it. He reclaims his wand and with the flick of a wrist, the monkey becomes nothing but a pile of clothes and gold teeth.
In the 6 vs 11 battle, we get Captain America vs Priest. This is a ranged battle, Captain's shield flies from one end of the cage to the other, while Priest's ninja star crosses narrowly miss Captain's head. After a lot of dodging, Priest is out of throwing stars, but Captain's shield just keeps coming back to him, with a strong throw the shield puts Priest down for the count.
In the 7 vs 10 match up, the Green Lantern Hal Jordan takes on Conan the Barbarian. Conan aggressively comes after Hal with his sword, Hal believes he can handle him so he has the ring create a sword of his own, however Conan is the better swordsman, and Hal realizes it too late, while he is trying to create something else to aid him, Conan takes advantage. With one swing of his sword, Conan gives us our first upset.
In our last match up of the first round, we get Professor X vs the Super 8 monster. Professor X knows physically he like a mouse going up against a lion, so he goes right to work trying to get into the monsters head. However the monster does not have a brain configuration that Charles can decode, as the monster charges, Xavier has to resort to attempting to use telekinesis, however there is nothing in the cage to throw at the monster, and before the audience has a chance to blink, Xavier is cocooned and hanging from the top of the cage.
This concludes the first round, but the subsequent rounds promise to be real nail biters. Check back later for the remaining battles!
Box Office Recap-July 10th, 2011
I was on the right track with last weeks predictions, as Transformers did maintain the number one spot. However the order of my 2-6 was a little off, but regardless of my incorrect guessing, the box office remained very strong this weekend. Transformers became the years biggest domestic success in only its second weekend, besting the domestic totals of Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Thor, X-men: First Class, and all the other big films to be released this year. Transformers 3 appears to be headed towards becoming the years second global billion dollar movie alongside Pirates 4. In second place, R-rated comedies remained strong with Horrible Bosses opening to a very impressive $28 million according to the AP. Behind Bridesmaids, The Hangover Part II, and Bad Teacher, this gives the summer alone four very successful R-rated comedies, and it appears we are headed towards a new comedy era. In third place was the other new wide release, Zookeeper starring Kevin James. The film took in a decent yet underwhelming $21 million. I assumed the total would be closer to Paul Blart's $31 million, but considering all the box office competition and the fact it should hold up well, $21 million does not mean failure. Cars 2 made another $15 million for 4th place, the film has dropped quite a bit for a Pixar film, but still has made a decent amount of money. However with the critical panning it has been getting versus Pixar's generally strongly reviewed films and the fast drop in ticket sales, we may not see a third Cars film. In fifth place was the aforementioned Bad Teacher, which has held up well for such a poorly reviewed film. Larry Crowne made another $6 million for 6th place. I assumed the older audience who didn't show up for Larry Crowne due to Transformers crowded multiplexes last week would show up this week, however I was apparently wrong. Larry Crowne did not have to make very much money to break even, but even that may be difficult at this stage.
Next week.............comes the big fish. Will the boy wizard make more than Optimus Prime and Jack Sparrow? My assumption is the final Harry Potter installment will fight for a top ten all time box office spot. So in no uncertain terms my prediction for next week is Harry Potter 7.2 in an overwhelming first place, followed by Transformers, Zookeeper, Horrible Bosses, and Bad Teacher. Also we get a Winnie the Pooh film next week but I doubt that makes any impact on the box office at all.
-Maximus
Next week.............comes the big fish. Will the boy wizard make more than Optimus Prime and Jack Sparrow? My assumption is the final Harry Potter installment will fight for a top ten all time box office spot. So in no uncertain terms my prediction for next week is Harry Potter 7.2 in an overwhelming first place, followed by Transformers, Zookeeper, Horrible Bosses, and Bad Teacher. Also we get a Winnie the Pooh film next week but I doubt that makes any impact on the box office at all.
-Maximus
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Movie Review- Super 8
Super 8 is story about children and their fathers, and the bond between them. Yes there is a supernatural backdrop that no one understands, but make no mistake, the film is about the relationships between all the main characters. Super 8 is the type of movie that is hard to review because I don't want to give anything away, but from the trailers you can tell a group of children filming their own zombie film witness a train crash, and the train had more than just your usual cargo. Soon the military is showing up and people are disappearing from the small town, and the main kids want to know what is going on. The majority of the actors in Super 8 are unknowns, but people will recognize Kyle Chandler (King Kong) as the sheriff, Ron Eldard (ER) as the town drunk, Elle Fanning (Somewhere), and Noah Emmerich (The Truman Show). The majority of the movie I absolutely loved, that dissipated a bit towards the end but only because of how high the bar was set for the first three quarters of the film. All the child actors do a tremendous job, and J.J. Abrams is masterful behind the camera. I highly recommend seeing the film, even if you are not a fan of Sci-fi as a whole. I give Super 8....8 Ninja Stars out of 10.
-Maximus
-Maximus
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Box Office Recap-4th of July Weekend
After a break for vacation, we are back and there was some big box office happenings this weekend. Transformers: Dark of the Moon made over $116 million on the 4 day weekend according to the AP. Since it opened last Tuesday, the film has made around $186 million, while this is behind Transformer: Rise of the Fallen's 6 day total, its still a great number. At least until Harry Potter 7.2 opens in a few weeks, Transformers will remain the biggest opening weekend of the year. In second and third place were holdovers Cars 2 and Bad Teacher. New release Larry Crowne with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts made over $15 million, which is a respectable total for an adult dramedy opening against Transformers. Super 8 landed in 5th place, and continues to hold up well even after several weeks in release. The weekends other new wide release, Monte Carlo with Selena Gomez, made $8 million for 6th place.
Next week we get R rated comedy Horrible Bosses with Charlie Day and Jason Bateman, as well as Zookeeper with Kevin James. I predict Transformers will remain in first place, followed by Zookeeper which should take in the same amount or more than Paul Blart: Mall Cop. In third will be Horrible Bosses, followed by Cars 2 and Larry Crowne. I would think that Larry Crowne should hold up well considering many older movie goers will not have wanted to go to the theater on Transformers opening weekend. Check back later this week for reviews of Super 8, The Adjustment Bureau, and The Rite.
-Maximus
Next week we get R rated comedy Horrible Bosses with Charlie Day and Jason Bateman, as well as Zookeeper with Kevin James. I predict Transformers will remain in first place, followed by Zookeeper which should take in the same amount or more than Paul Blart: Mall Cop. In third will be Horrible Bosses, followed by Cars 2 and Larry Crowne. I would think that Larry Crowne should hold up well considering many older movie goers will not have wanted to go to the theater on Transformers opening weekend. Check back later this week for reviews of Super 8, The Adjustment Bureau, and The Rite.
-Maximus
Friday, June 17, 2011
Opening this Weekend - 6/17/11
This week we have 3 movies that are coming to the big screen. There is a kid's comedy, a super hero movie, and a romantic comedy - those being Mr. Popper's Penguins, Green Lantern, and The Art of Getting By, respectively. I won't say that I'm excited for this week's movies but let's take a look at them anyways.
Mr. Popper's Penguins
This movie stars Jim Carrey as a man who inherits six penguins from a relative who has passed away. The very reserved businessman and divorcee immediately tries to get rid of the penguins until his kids come over and fall in love with them. Realizing this is a good way to bond with his kids, who spend most of their time with his ex-wife, Mr. Popper turns his place into a winter themed penguin pad. He also starts to unwind and finally enjoy life a little. He does have a constant thorn in his side because he originally called the zoo to take the penguins and they won't relent even though he changed his mind. Really Jim Carrey? Really? Oh how the mighty have fallen. You were once the master of laughs with numerous great comedic movies under your belt but now you just keep hopping on to stupid looking movies. Does age play into this factor that now you're older and just lost all your funniness? Kids might like this so I can't knock it too hard but I know that I won't be running out to see it. On the Viewability Scale I give it 4 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.popperspenguins.com/main.html
Green Lantern
This is yet another super hero movie being released this year. This one stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal the test pilot that is deemed worthy to wear the ring that has infinite power. The green lantern group are alien species that have come together with the power of their rings to defeat evil. When a threat rears its ugly head on earth Hal has to become a quick learner and put all his faith in himself and the ring that has limitless power. Ok so first off I have never been a fan of the Green Lantern. I have numerous problems with the super hero. One might be that oh I don't know, doesn't DC Comics already have a Superman? That stupid ring has the power to do anything which basically means that the Green Lantern can do anything he wants making him impossible to beat much like Superman. Also I feel like I have seen Ryan Reynolds before in a super hero role. Hmmm...Oh that's right he was Deadpool in Wolverine. Does anyone besides me find that uber lame? Well I like Ryan Reynolds as an actor so maybe he can save this movie. I would give it 5 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://greenlanternmovie.warnerbros.com/
The Art of Getting By
A high school senior has a terrible outlook on life but begins to warm up a bit once he starts talking with a classmate (Emma Roberts). It looks like this movie is going to be a "My life sucks" kind of movie and then the boy realizes that maybe it doesn't suck so bad by starting to have feelings for the girl that is trying to bring him out of his depression. It might be witty, funny, sad, or none of the above. Honestly I had no knowledge this movie was coming out and I'm not sad about that because it looks pretty lame. On the Viewability Scale it gets 3 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXCkp_Wuv3U
So to recap we have:
Mr. Popper's Penguins - 4 Ninja Stars
Green Lantern - 5 Ninja Stars
The Art of Getting By - 3 Ninja Stars
So after a pretty weak week hopefully next week will be better...or maybe not since next week we have Cars 2, A Better Life, and Bad Teacher. Don't worry everyone I have a feeling July will be a much better month. If you see any of the movies above, please comment but in a way that it doesn't ruin the movie for everyone else.
Side note - I will be unable to preview the movies for you next week (I'm really not that sad about it given the movies that are being released...). I will be back however the week after and hopefully we will have something to be excited about.
-Diomedes
Mr. Popper's Penguins
This movie stars Jim Carrey as a man who inherits six penguins from a relative who has passed away. The very reserved businessman and divorcee immediately tries to get rid of the penguins until his kids come over and fall in love with them. Realizing this is a good way to bond with his kids, who spend most of their time with his ex-wife, Mr. Popper turns his place into a winter themed penguin pad. He also starts to unwind and finally enjoy life a little. He does have a constant thorn in his side because he originally called the zoo to take the penguins and they won't relent even though he changed his mind. Really Jim Carrey? Really? Oh how the mighty have fallen. You were once the master of laughs with numerous great comedic movies under your belt but now you just keep hopping on to stupid looking movies. Does age play into this factor that now you're older and just lost all your funniness? Kids might like this so I can't knock it too hard but I know that I won't be running out to see it. On the Viewability Scale I give it 4 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.popperspenguins.com/main.html
Green Lantern
This is yet another super hero movie being released this year. This one stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal the test pilot that is deemed worthy to wear the ring that has infinite power. The green lantern group are alien species that have come together with the power of their rings to defeat evil. When a threat rears its ugly head on earth Hal has to become a quick learner and put all his faith in himself and the ring that has limitless power. Ok so first off I have never been a fan of the Green Lantern. I have numerous problems with the super hero. One might be that oh I don't know, doesn't DC Comics already have a Superman? That stupid ring has the power to do anything which basically means that the Green Lantern can do anything he wants making him impossible to beat much like Superman. Also I feel like I have seen Ryan Reynolds before in a super hero role. Hmmm...Oh that's right he was Deadpool in Wolverine. Does anyone besides me find that uber lame? Well I like Ryan Reynolds as an actor so maybe he can save this movie. I would give it 5 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://greenlanternmovie.warnerbros.com/
The Art of Getting By
A high school senior has a terrible outlook on life but begins to warm up a bit once he starts talking with a classmate (Emma Roberts). It looks like this movie is going to be a "My life sucks" kind of movie and then the boy realizes that maybe it doesn't suck so bad by starting to have feelings for the girl that is trying to bring him out of his depression. It might be witty, funny, sad, or none of the above. Honestly I had no knowledge this movie was coming out and I'm not sad about that because it looks pretty lame. On the Viewability Scale it gets 3 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXCkp_Wuv3U
So to recap we have:
Mr. Popper's Penguins - 4 Ninja Stars
Green Lantern - 5 Ninja Stars
The Art of Getting By - 3 Ninja Stars
So after a pretty weak week hopefully next week will be better...or maybe not since next week we have Cars 2, A Better Life, and Bad Teacher. Don't worry everyone I have a feeling July will be a much better month. If you see any of the movies above, please comment but in a way that it doesn't ruin the movie for everyone else.
Side note - I will be unable to preview the movies for you next week (I'm really not that sad about it given the movies that are being released...). I will be back however the week after and hopefully we will have something to be excited about.
-Diomedes
Movie Review - Bridesmaids
Originally I thought this movie was going to be a chick flick and that I would find myself bored. I of course was dragged to it by a very attractive female that I guess I couldn't say no to (or maybe it was because I dragged her to see X-Men: First Class). I heard from many women that I had talked to that it was hilarious and that I had to see it. So needless to say I went into it very skeptical. But as the movie started and through the progression of the film, I found myself laughing more often and harder than I expected. By the time it was done I decided that I would be more than happy to see it again because it was hilarious. The casting was perfect and the main girl from Saturday Night Live (Kristen Wilg) did a solid job. The scene of her in the airplane is one of the funnier scenes I have witnessed in a long time. I will also say that the chubbier, more butch friend was the best character in the film and did a great job.
Altogether after all the hype and the fact that I thought it was a chick flick, it was pretty darn good. For a comedy I am going to have to give it 8 Ninja Stars out of 10. I would definitely recommend seeing this movie in theaters but if you can't make it then go out and rent it right when it comes out on dvd because it is worth your time. I must say thank you to the attractive lady that dragged me to the theater because otherwise I would have most likely been too manly to go see it. Guys it is not a chick flick if you haven't got the gist of what I'm saying.
-Diomedes
Altogether after all the hype and the fact that I thought it was a chick flick, it was pretty darn good. For a comedy I am going to have to give it 8 Ninja Stars out of 10. I would definitely recommend seeing this movie in theaters but if you can't make it then go out and rent it right when it comes out on dvd because it is worth your time. I must say thank you to the attractive lady that dragged me to the theater because otherwise I would have most likely been too manly to go see it. Guys it is not a chick flick if you haven't got the gist of what I'm saying.
-Diomedes
Movie Review - X-Men: First Class
So being my most anticipated movie of the summer I had very high expectations for this new installment of the X-Men enterprise. And I will have to say that it didn't leave me hanging like so many other movies in recent history (like the movie we don't speak of - otherwise known of as the third X-Men movie). I won't go on record saying that it was great but I will say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think they had some good character development with Magneto and seeing Professor X up and about was really neat too. The duo of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy worked out perfect in my opinion. I also thought there was a solid story line set in place that showed the break-up of Professor X and Magneto to the opposing sides of their views on how mutants should live in everyday society.
My one criticism would be for the mutants they picked to key around for the good and the bad side of the conflict. I think there are so many better mutants out there to pick from that they could have done better in their selection. The effects were good. I thought beast looked cool which was good because let's face it a big blue furry dude is hard to make cool on screen. Magneto has been a favorite of mine since I was little and to see his power grow and come to its full potential was awesome. I must also say that Kevin Bacon as the villain was a good fit too. It's been a long time since Kevin Bacon has done anything worth talking about so it was nice to see him actually live up to expectations.
I would give this movie 8 Ninja Stars out of 10 and would recommend catching it in theaters if you can because it was definitely worth the price of admission.
-Diomedes
My one criticism would be for the mutants they picked to key around for the good and the bad side of the conflict. I think there are so many better mutants out there to pick from that they could have done better in their selection. The effects were good. I thought beast looked cool which was good because let's face it a big blue furry dude is hard to make cool on screen. Magneto has been a favorite of mine since I was little and to see his power grow and come to its full potential was awesome. I must also say that Kevin Bacon as the villain was a good fit too. It's been a long time since Kevin Bacon has done anything worth talking about so it was nice to see him actually live up to expectations.
I would give this movie 8 Ninja Stars out of 10 and would recommend catching it in theaters if you can because it was definitely worth the price of admission.
-Diomedes
Saturday, June 11, 2011
New DVD Review-The Green Hornet
With all the super hero movies coming out, it was easy to overlook The Green Hornet, especially considering they cast Seth Rogen as the title super hero. Rogen has only played pot heads and slackers so far in his film career, and playboy turned super hero seems like a big jump. Then the studio announced Michel Gondry would be directing, the same Michel Gondry who directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind. So you put together a director who has one good movie under his belt and specializes in trippy visuals and an actor who has repeated the same performance over and over again and you get...a solid super hero movie. I expected nothing from The Green Hornet, but was pleasantly surprised when the credits rolled. Gondry does put his mark on the film and sometimes it gets ridiculous, but for the most part its a well done story of a man with no super powers who needs to become a hero to redeem himself and his legacy. As playboy Britt Reid aka The Green Hornet, Rogen is convincing and the film smartly never tries to make him a martial arts expert or great fighter, he kind of just runs around while his partner Kato (Jay Chou) does all the work. The dynamic between the two is solid and the complexities and uniqueness of their friendship is the main focus of the movie. Christoph Waltz who won an Oscar for playing one of the great villains of all time in Inglorious Basterds, plays again a villain but a very insecure villain, while the character doesn't work that well, I think it was good that they gave the villain a little bit of a different mentality to keep the film fresh. Cameron Diaz is on hand as well but her casting is pointless as anyone could have played the role. Overall while not a great film or a great entry in the super hero genre, The Green Hornet holds up well and is worth checking out if you have the time. I give it 6 Ninja Stars out of 10.
-Maximus
-Maximus
New DVD Review-Drive Angry
Drive Angry was pushed as a groundbreaking fun 3D action film. From what I can understand, it at least was in 3D, so that wasn't a complete lie. Nicholas Cage has a recent reputation of taking any movie offered to him, and movies like this show why its a bad idea. Its about a man recently escaped from "prison" to avenge the murder of his daughter and save his granddaughter from a cult. He is accompanied by a tough waitress (Amber Heard) and pursued by the "prison's" "accountant" played by the great character actor William Fichtner. I put all of the above in quotations as anyone who has one quarter of a brain will realize the films big twist after about 18 minutes of film time but I don't want to spoil it here just in case. The only redeeming quality about this movie is the joy in which Fichtner brings to his character. Other than that, the movie is absolutely terrible. I watched it in 2D, but you could tell which scenes were in 3D, and they were for cheap effects only. The visual effects in the movie were absolutely terrible and apparently were given second focus to the stupid 3D gimmick. Nicholas Cage continues to run far away from the great actor who won an Oscar for the emotionally devastating performance in Leaving Las Vegas and from the actor who brought gravitas and skill to action movies like The Rock, Face/Off, and Con-Air. Hopefully Cage gets some of that back one day and restores his reputation. I give Drive Angry 2 Ninja Stars out of 10.
-Maximus
-Maximus
Movie Review-The Hangover Part II
I went into The Hangover Part II assuming it would give me some laughs, but also be a complete retread of the first film, and I was right on target. Part II follows the crew (Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, and Justin Bartha) to Thailand for Stu's wedding. Stu is understandably jaded from the events of the first film, and does not want a bachelor party. However a quiet beer on the beach soon turns into a crazy adventure as the guys wake up in a seedy motel in Bangkok with no memory of what brought them there. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Stu's 19 year old future brother in law is missing. The events of the film take them all over the city and from once crazy situation to another. Going into much more would give too much away, but safe to say The Hangover Part II is an over the top comedy with some very funny scenes. My one big complaint is that while the character of Alan in the first film was a unique and hilarious scene stealing presence, in this film he is promoted to lead star and if feels like most of Cooper and Helms' lines are used to set up Galifianiakis to do something funny. By the end of the movie I was pretty sick of Alan's character and hope if there is a third film, they balance it out more. The scene stealer in this one is Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) who was also a scene stealer in the first film. Here he gets more to do and a bigger part, and he completely delivers. I recommend The Hangover Part II if you are looking to laugh and be entertained, but not so much if you are looking for a unique and high quality movie experience. I give the film 6 Ninja Stars out of 10.
-Maximus
-Maximus
Friday, June 10, 2011
Opening this Weekend - 6/10/11
There are two movies that are coming out this weekend, one that looks like it could be good (Super 8) and one that looks lame if your over the age of 12 (Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer). So let's take a closer look at what is being sacrificed to the movie gods this weekend.
Super 8
JJ Abrams gets behind the camera to produce a sci-fi movie which falls right into his forte. The movie is set in 1979 and based around a bunch of kids who decide that over the summer they are going to make a zombie movie with a super 8 camera. While out filming one night they witness a train derail and destroy itself right outside town. After that event, weird things start happening around the small Ohio town that can't really be explained. As the deputy starts trying to piece together what is happening around town, the kids decide to keep on filming. The big questions is: Will they capture the paranormal events on film or will the movie just remain one big mystery without the audience getting to see who or what is causing all the ruckus around town? I am fairly positive it is aliens that are let lose around town but from the trailer you can't tell what their true purpose will be, whether malicious or E.T. style where they just want to get home. It looks very intriguing so I will be giving it 7 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.super8-movie.com/#/video
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
This is a children's movie about a young girl who plans out her whole summer, full of adventures and hanging with her best friends, when she finds out her two best friends are leaving for the summer to do some awesome activities. So now Judy's summer has turned into hanging out at home with a terrible little brother and an aunt she has never met. I honestly don't even know why I am writing a preview for this because no one that would read this would be interested in this movie. Where Pixar movies we can enjoy at all ages, this movie is geared straight towards a 5-12 year old viewer range. So unless you have kids that fall into that range and they didn't want to see Kung Fu Panda 2 then I guess you could go see this movie. I would give it 3 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UukpvGLVWVs
So the recap for the weekend:
Super 8 - 7 Ninja Stars
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer - 3 Ninja Stars
Next week we will have Mr. Popper's Penguins and The Green Lantern to discuss. If you go to any of the movies above, please comment in a way that doesn't ruin the movie for others. But do comment because we would like to know others thoughts on the movies previewed and reviewed.
-Diomedes
Super 8
JJ Abrams gets behind the camera to produce a sci-fi movie which falls right into his forte. The movie is set in 1979 and based around a bunch of kids who decide that over the summer they are going to make a zombie movie with a super 8 camera. While out filming one night they witness a train derail and destroy itself right outside town. After that event, weird things start happening around the small Ohio town that can't really be explained. As the deputy starts trying to piece together what is happening around town, the kids decide to keep on filming. The big questions is: Will they capture the paranormal events on film or will the movie just remain one big mystery without the audience getting to see who or what is causing all the ruckus around town? I am fairly positive it is aliens that are let lose around town but from the trailer you can't tell what their true purpose will be, whether malicious or E.T. style where they just want to get home. It looks very intriguing so I will be giving it 7 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.super8-movie.com/#/video
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
This is a children's movie about a young girl who plans out her whole summer, full of adventures and hanging with her best friends, when she finds out her two best friends are leaving for the summer to do some awesome activities. So now Judy's summer has turned into hanging out at home with a terrible little brother and an aunt she has never met. I honestly don't even know why I am writing a preview for this because no one that would read this would be interested in this movie. Where Pixar movies we can enjoy at all ages, this movie is geared straight towards a 5-12 year old viewer range. So unless you have kids that fall into that range and they didn't want to see Kung Fu Panda 2 then I guess you could go see this movie. I would give it 3 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UukpvGLVWVs
So the recap for the weekend:
Super 8 - 7 Ninja Stars
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer - 3 Ninja Stars
Next week we will have Mr. Popper's Penguins and The Green Lantern to discuss. If you go to any of the movies above, please comment in a way that doesn't ruin the movie for others. But do comment because we would like to know others thoughts on the movies previewed and reviewed.
-Diomedes
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Box Office Recap-June 6th, 2011
My predictions were actually correct this week, its not nearly as difficult when only one big movie opens per week. X-Men: First Class made $56 million in its first weekend to easily take the number one spot. While the number isn't as high as Thor debuted to a few weeks back, its not a bad number for a origin story without any huge stars. The movie did well critically so the numbers should hold up strong for X-Men. In second place was The Hangover Part II, which made another $32 million. The movie continues to dominate and will likely compete for the big box office of the summer title. It has made as much as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has and its been out a full week less. Kung Fu Panda 2 made another $24 million for third place. The aforementioned Pirates 4 came in 4th with $18 million, it looks to cross $200 million next week. In fifth place was Bridesmaids with another $12 million. The movie continues to hold up well and is now over the $100 million mark. The only other big box office news was that with another $3 million in 7th place, Fast Five crossed the $200 million mark.
Next week we get two new releases, Super 8 and Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. Super 8 is very difficult to call in terms of box office, its not a sequel or a proven property, and with strong box office holdovers Hangover Part II and X-Men, will it do enough to end up in the number one spot? I predict it will be a very close battle for number one between X-Men and Super 8 with Super 8 edging X-Men out, after those two, Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda, and Pirates 4 will follow. Check back later this week for reviews of The Hangover Part II and X-Men: First Class.
-Maximus
Next week we get two new releases, Super 8 and Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. Super 8 is very difficult to call in terms of box office, its not a sequel or a proven property, and with strong box office holdovers Hangover Part II and X-Men, will it do enough to end up in the number one spot? I predict it will be a very close battle for number one between X-Men and Super 8 with Super 8 edging X-Men out, after those two, Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda, and Pirates 4 will follow. Check back later this week for reviews of The Hangover Part II and X-Men: First Class.
-Maximus
Friday, June 3, 2011
Opening This Weekend - 6/3/11
So this weekend we only have one movie to review but that movie is huge! My most anticipated movie of the summer opens today but can it redeem the franchise? If you don't know the movie I'm talking about then you better change your plans for the weekend because X-Men: First Class is ready for viewing.
X-Men: First Class
This is the 4th X-Men movie to come to the big screen (though I don't even like to think about the third one that Brett Ratner ruined). This one will take us back to the beginning where it all began, when two enemies were best friends and fought together in a common cause. Those two would be Eric Lensherr or more commonly known as Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier or his alias Professor X (James McAvoy). They align to take on what looks to be the Cuban missile crisis from all the JFK speeches during the previews. They lead other mutants in this same cause but along the way they find the line that eventually draws between them making them enemies. The question they divide over is how best to incorporate mutants into this world? Do you try to help humanity even though they shun you? Or do you try to rule humanity because you have evolved into higher beings? Make it to this movie and pick your side. I think this movie looks awesome and could have the power to completely erase the movie we don't speak of (that 3rd debacle by Ratner). Nothing else needs to be said. I give this movie 10 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale. Will it stand up to this high standard? You'll have to check back next week for our review of how it was.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.x-menfirstclassmovie.com/
Next week we have to movies that are opening, those being Super 8 and Judy Moody & the Not Bummer Summer. Also if you see X-Men: First Class please comment but in a way that you won't ruin the movie for others.
-Diomedes
X-Men: First Class
This is the 4th X-Men movie to come to the big screen (though I don't even like to think about the third one that Brett Ratner ruined). This one will take us back to the beginning where it all began, when two enemies were best friends and fought together in a common cause. Those two would be Eric Lensherr or more commonly known as Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier or his alias Professor X (James McAvoy). They align to take on what looks to be the Cuban missile crisis from all the JFK speeches during the previews. They lead other mutants in this same cause but along the way they find the line that eventually draws between them making them enemies. The question they divide over is how best to incorporate mutants into this world? Do you try to help humanity even though they shun you? Or do you try to rule humanity because you have evolved into higher beings? Make it to this movie and pick your side. I think this movie looks awesome and could have the power to completely erase the movie we don't speak of (that 3rd debacle by Ratner). Nothing else needs to be said. I give this movie 10 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale. Will it stand up to this high standard? You'll have to check back next week for our review of how it was.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.x-menfirstclassmovie.com/
Next week we have to movies that are opening, those being Super 8 and Judy Moody & the Not Bummer Summer. Also if you see X-Men: First Class please comment but in a way that you won't ruin the movie for others.
-Diomedes
Monday, May 30, 2011
Box Office Recap-May 31st, 2011
I sold Hangover Part II a little short in my box office predictions. I assumed Jack Sparrow would sail his way to number one for a second week, but Alan and company took offense to that and easily coasted to number one. The Hangover crew made $137 million over the five day weekend according to the AP. That represents a terrific opening weekend for the R rated comedy and assures the studio will be hoping the crew comes back for The Hangover Part III. Kung Fu Panda 2 made $62 million over the holiday weekend to come in second place. This is less than the original Kung Fu Panda made but is the biggest opening weekend for an animated film this year, which is saying quite a bit considering Rio and Rango both did very well. In third place was my predicted winner Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The film made $50 million over the holiday weekend and is annihilating the box office overseas. The fourth Pirates film is already at half a billion across the globe in only its second week. Bridesmaids and Thor rounded out the top 5 as both continue to do very well. By next weekend Bridesmaids should be across the century mark, and Thor is creeping ever closer to $200 million domestically.
Next week only one new movie opens but its a big one in X-Men: First Class. Previous X-Men films have opened to high totals and this one should be no exception. I would imagine X-Men finishes first, followed by The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2, Pirates 4, and Bridesmaids. Predicting the box office is much easier when only one new movie is opening.
-Maximus
Next week only one new movie opens but its a big one in X-Men: First Class. Previous X-Men films have opened to high totals and this one should be no exception. I would imagine X-Men finishes first, followed by The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2, Pirates 4, and Bridesmaids. Predicting the box office is much easier when only one new movie is opening.
-Maximus
Friday, May 27, 2011
Opening This Weekend - 5/27/11
After a short hiatus I am back and ready to let you know what's coming to the theater this weekend. I may also include my opinion after giving some of the storyline...sorry but I can't help myself when it comes to jusging movies. Anyways let's see what we have to preview this week. It looks like we have two sequels, one for the adult audience and one for the little ones with The Hangover Part II and Kung Fu Panda 2. We also have The Tree of Life opening as well. So let's do this!
The Hangover Part II
The crew is back and ready to party. Stu is getting married to a Chinese woman so they are having the wedding out in Bangkok. Now you can't have a wedding without having a bachelor party right? But this time they are all going to take it easy...or so they thought. No need to describe this any further because if you have seen the first one it should follow the same guidelines of trying to piece the crazy night back together and finding someone they have lost. Just to let you all know, the word on the street is that we are in for a lot more male genitalia in this one than in the last. Besides that point it looks awesome! I can't say that it will be better than the first but if they make me laugh half as much they did during the first movie, it will count as a win in my book. On the Viewability Scale I would give it 8 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://hangoverpart2.warnerbros.com/
Kung Fu Panda 2
Jack Black is back voicing the ever "furocious" panda named Po. Po is now the Dragon Warrior of kung fu and the leader of his friends from the first movie. As a mischievous enemy gets his hands on a weapon that has the potential to conquer China and destroy kung fu, the group unites to face-off against the evil master mind behind this plot. If you liked the first one you might like this one as well. The first one wasn't a bad animated movie but it wasn't as good as I thought it could be. I give this movie 4 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.kungfupanda.com/
The Tree of Life
This movie has Sean Penn as a grown man looking back and reflecting on the difficult relationship he had with his father, played by Brad Pitt, when he was a boy. It looks like a movie that will be slow moving and more lifelike than having anything out of the ordinary happening. It looks like a Revolutionary Road type movie minus the ending. So I don't want to say it will be boring but if you see it just don't be disappointed if there is no jaw dropping moment and the movie is just a depiction of an averages man's memories of his childhood. On the Viewability Scale I would give it 5 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thetreeoflife/
So to recap we have:
The Hangover Part II - 8 Ninja Stars
Kung Fu Panda 2 - 4 Ninja Stars
The Tree of Life - 5 Ninja Stars
Next week we have X-Men: First Class which is my most anticipated movie of the summer. I have a feeling it's going to be really well done and enjoyable to watch. If you see any of the movies above, please comment in a way that doesn't ruin it for others.
- Diomedes
The Hangover Part II
The crew is back and ready to party. Stu is getting married to a Chinese woman so they are having the wedding out in Bangkok. Now you can't have a wedding without having a bachelor party right? But this time they are all going to take it easy...or so they thought. No need to describe this any further because if you have seen the first one it should follow the same guidelines of trying to piece the crazy night back together and finding someone they have lost. Just to let you all know, the word on the street is that we are in for a lot more male genitalia in this one than in the last. Besides that point it looks awesome! I can't say that it will be better than the first but if they make me laugh half as much they did during the first movie, it will count as a win in my book. On the Viewability Scale I would give it 8 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://hangoverpart2.warnerbros.com/
Kung Fu Panda 2
Jack Black is back voicing the ever "furocious" panda named Po. Po is now the Dragon Warrior of kung fu and the leader of his friends from the first movie. As a mischievous enemy gets his hands on a weapon that has the potential to conquer China and destroy kung fu, the group unites to face-off against the evil master mind behind this plot. If you liked the first one you might like this one as well. The first one wasn't a bad animated movie but it wasn't as good as I thought it could be. I give this movie 4 Ninja Stars out of 10 on the Viewability Scale.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.kungfupanda.com/
The Tree of Life
This movie has Sean Penn as a grown man looking back and reflecting on the difficult relationship he had with his father, played by Brad Pitt, when he was a boy. It looks like a movie that will be slow moving and more lifelike than having anything out of the ordinary happening. It looks like a Revolutionary Road type movie minus the ending. So I don't want to say it will be boring but if you see it just don't be disappointed if there is no jaw dropping moment and the movie is just a depiction of an averages man's memories of his childhood. On the Viewability Scale I would give it 5 Ninja Stars out of 10.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thetreeoflife/
So to recap we have:
The Hangover Part II - 8 Ninja Stars
Kung Fu Panda 2 - 4 Ninja Stars
The Tree of Life - 5 Ninja Stars
Next week we have X-Men: First Class which is my most anticipated movie of the summer. I have a feeling it's going to be really well done and enjoyable to watch. If you see any of the movies above, please comment in a way that doesn't ruin it for others.
- Diomedes
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Movie Review-Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Many fans complained about how bogged down the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie felt trying to tie up all its lose ends while still adding new characters and plot lines, so the studio went back to the single minded approach that made the original Pirates so successful. On Stranger Tides is a stand alone Pirates film that only brings back a handful of characters from the previous films......and leaves much to be desired. The film has all the requisite Jack Sparrow one liners as well as kinetic action sequences, but beyond that tried formula, everything else falls dead. Penelope Cruz has a difficult time being anyone other than Penelope Cruz, and while Geoffrey Rush is back as Barbosa, his character feels out of place and wasted here. Ian McShane was inspired casting as ruthless pirate Blackbeard, but isn't given very much to do. Johnny Depp brings back the familiar running style and over used mouth of Sparrow, but many of his jokes fall flat. The film also feels much longer than its already long 141 minute run time. There are a few positives in the film including the return of Sparrow's right hand man Gibbs and the sparring back and forth between them. The quest to the fountain of youth is also a great choice for a Pirates movie, however the end of that quest is lackluster. Also the film takes a turn towards darkness when Blackbeard decides its time to catch a mermaid, however the darkness and creepiness that is initially there dissipates quickly into silliness. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is worth watching on a Saturday afternoon in the comfort of your living room, but is no longer the must see series that it started out being. I give it 5 Ninja Stars out of 10.
-Maximus
-Maximus
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