Movie innocence

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. To all my readers out there, prepare for some serious writing, as The Hopp.NET reaches August, I will try to have one post every day, at least for the month of August as an attempt to get my lazy ass in gear and get some good writing done. I have had some fleeting moments of inspiration, but I can't seem to get it down before something comes up. So, I'm going to try to hope that those moments come when I'm writing this month and I can capture it. Until then, here's a thought:

I was watching The Matrix this afternoon. It's one of my favorite movies of all time, and as I watched the beginning with Trinity doing some crazy stuff, leading to a great rooftop chase scene, I was thinking back to the first time I saw the movie. I was in a theater with my best friend Michael at the time. We were still in middle School, and we sat down and were blown away at what we saw. We spent the rest of the night discussing the philosophical implications, the mechanical issues, and the amazement our innocent eyes had just witnessed.

It left me wondering if that innocence can ever be duplicated again. I'm approaching 29, and I don't know if the amazement of a great movie will ever quite grip me as that movie did. It may have been a more innocent time, when I didn't know the movie secrets, or the tricks, or the meaning behind the movie or the fact that I hadn't seen the volume of movies I've seen now. So, with that, does that mean that sense of joy and wonderment is gone? I hope not.

That is one reason why I like Inception so much, is due to the fact that I caught a glimpse of that wonderment from my youth, as that little kid watching a movie with his friend did battle with the movie critic you see now. It was a good moment, but how often will another come along?

Do you ever have a problem with your jaded self fighting that little innocent kid inside you? Tell me about it!

Inception - Extended ending video

SPOILERS! The ending to Inception is amazing, but everyone wanted to know what happened after the credits rolled. Finally, the lost footage has been found, so you can see exactly what happened afterwards. Check it out!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Inception

I love Bill & Ted. I don't know why, but their brainless-ness has a direct line to my funnybone. So, imagine the look of pure joy that appeared on my face when I saw a video that took my favorite movie of 2010 and mixed the trailer with Bill & Ted.

Check it out!

Thor trailer from Comic Con

I have to admit, despite my love for all things Marvel, I was not even remotely excited for Thor. Yes, it stars Chris Hemsworth, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and Natalie Portman, and yes, it's another step towards Avengers goodness, but I couldn't help but not care....until now.

The new trailer shown at Comic Con reveals the plot, on how Thor is cast out of Asgard and sent to Earth, probably to learn a lesson and return to Asgard to save it from Loki, the bad guy.

So, besides the goofy attire, what do you guys think?

A geek by any other name...

I love being a geek. I'm mainly a movie geek, but my slightly obsessive passions range beyond simple movies. Sure, you can call it crazy that I love movies, and sit and ponder or discuss movies for hours on end, but I'm simply finding something I like and embracing it. No harm in that right? So, why is it that when some fellow movie geeks do it in San Diego, they get laughed at, but when other geeks do it at the Trop, not only are they celebrated for their geekery, but if they aren't geeky enough, their loyalty is questioned? There is a tremor in the force, indeed.

There are countless blogs that talked about the geek Mecca that is Comic Con that just recently ended. They talked about the previews, the comics and, of course the costumes. There seemed to be the quiet, and sometimes not so quiet laughter at movie and anime and comic geeks coming together. There were jokes about how they are sweaty, fat slobs, and that these people need to get a life. I personally love Comic-Con, and think geeks coming together to celebrate a common interest in art is something that should be embraced, as it's much healthier than comparing differences.

On the other side of the country, we have St. Petersburg, and Tropicana Field. It's an arena of baseball where fans go to cheer on their favorite players, and hope for a win, as fans heckle other fans, and question their loyalty to the game of baseball if their trivia isn't up to par, along with those who don't wear the jersey of their favorite player (and it must be the "home team") less of a sports geek. And don't get them started if you weren't a fan from the beginning, or aren't supporting the team you grew up with. Apparently, doing so will get people killed, and not role-playing killed, killed killed.

I'm not picking just on Baseball, even though I think their "passion" is probably the most celebrated. There are people who dress up to go to football games all the time, and are even put on TV for it. Those people are something to aspire to in the football world. There are people who dress up and have legacies in stadiums, much like the pig ladies or the Raider Nation.

So, here's the problem I have; why do these baseball loving people who celebrate their love for a sport any different than the comic-con fans celebrating their love of art? Society seems to think them quite different, as baseball is encouraged, while events like Comic-Con are often laughed at. As a man, society will judge you less harshly if you are seen at a baseball game, over a movie or comic convention.

Maybe we should all just come together and celebrate our geekness together. You start!

Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch Trailer

Looks pretty, doesn't it? I mean, it looks really good for a teaser trailer. We'll have to wait and see, and apparently it's 3-D. Could be interesting.

DVD Review - Repo Men

The Jude Law and Forest Whitaker action gore-fest Repo Men comes to DVD this week. And, while the movie hardly turned heads in theaters, find out if it should end up in your collection.

Creative Loafing sent The Rabid One out to see the movie awhile back, and he had some interesting things to say in his review about how the characters were truly lacking, and the gore was trying to make up for it. As I generally agree with the Rabid One, this is no exception. With a hero, you have to give the audience a reason to root for him, and director Miguel Sapochnik and star Jude Law simply didn’t do that. As a result, the action, and impending doom, and gallons upon gallons of blood shed simply don’t have the impact they should have. Forrest Whitaker was great in the movie, sure, and Liev Schrieber is always decent, and the action was well done, if a bit over the top, but in the end, the movie was simply ok, and the ending, left me unfulfilled.

The Special Features on the disc, although feeling extremely rushed, were enjoyable. They had “The Union Commercials” which were commercials the company in the movie used to talk suckers into buying their organs. I thought there were really good, and often parodied commercials we would see on TV.

There was also a look into the special effects, which was kind of funny, in that the director kept asking the writer to “ask him a question” about the scene, instead of explaining what is going on, but when he did explain it, you could feel the sense of pride he had in his film.

There were also a few deleted scenes, which felt like they were thrown in there, because they would show you a scene from the movie, and somewhere there would be a small snippet of film that wasn’t in the film, with no explanation as to why. Finally, there was directors commentary, which again was a bit awkward listening to the director and the writer talk back and fourth, and there wasn’t much insight, but the few snippets there were quite entertaining.

Overall, if the gory action sounds like your thing, give it a rent, or maybe look for it on HBO, but since there weren’t many special features, and the movie was only ok, I would say pass on this one.

Reel Projections Podcast

I admit, it is hardly my most inventive headline, but whatever.

Reel Projections is a podcast I occasionally contribute to for Creative Loafing, where we talk about movies, DVD's and anything else that catches our eyes. This week, we had Shannon, and Joe and I talking about the latest movies, the 48-hour film fest and how Tilda Swinton is kinda ugly. I thought it was a good listen. Check it out!

REEL PROJECTIONS PODCAST

SyFy's "Red" Trailer - Starring Felicia Day

I love me some Felicia Day, and SyFy, so the two together make me really happy. I think Felicia Day has that geeky hotness somehow, and it gets my attention. SyFy's Red, is kind of a retelling of Red Riding Hood, but of course there is CGI'd werewolves. It looks like a huge cut above some of the other SyFy movies lately. Check it out!

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 from Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack Sparrow made a video just for Comic Con (damn me for missing it), and the video talks about not going to the fountain of youth. If he were to go, it would require rum to handle the zombies, mermaids and Penelope Cruz. I can't wait. I love the Pirates movies and unlike most others, more is better!

Movie Review - Salt - with Anjelina Jolie & Liev Schrieber

"Do you think people are who they say they are?" It's a simple question that is asked in nearly every movie, and most times the answers are real simple, but in Salt, the latest Angelina Jolie blockbuster, it's supposed to be a bit more complicated. People change sides like a steroid loving Sean Connery in Entrapment, leaving the audience wondering who is Evelyn Salt? Sure, you may be thinking it all sounds terribly cliched, and you are right, there is more cliched themes in this movie than you can count, but there is enough to like in the movie to justify the popcorn.

Evelyn Salt (Jolie) starts off being tortured by the Koreans, as we learn, despite her denial that she is CIA. Once the incredibly dramatic scene progresses, we learn that she is the best there is in the CIA, until a Russian spy (apparently, they still have those) wanting to defect comes in and names her as a spy who is going to kill the Russian president to start a world war. Are you with me so far? Good. Because what follows is some crazy action, and some serious side shifting by just about everyone involved until you are not sure who to cheer for, so you just cheer for Jolie because she's hot.

Alright, so the down side to this movie is that it is yet another mindless action movie that will leave your head as soon as you get out of the theater. Sadly, it's a bit of a trend this year, but the movie is so cliched, you will be left chuckling at the absurdity and saying it was the one-armed man, and if you are one of those people that say "there is no way she could do that in real life," then you are going to hate this movie.

Never let it be said that I just spout off negative stuff about every movie. There was plenty of good things in this movie. For one, the performance of Angelina Jolie was spot on. She was hot, lethal, and very believable in her action-heavy role. Her costars in Liev Schrieber and Chiwetel Ejiofor also were equally good, and very dramatic in their respective roles as the agents chasing down Salt. When you get down to it, Salt focused on the action, and it shows.

If you've seen the trailer for the movie, and have some movie savvy to you, then you will have probably figured out the entire movie, which is a shame, because at an hour and 26 minutes, there are plenty of worse ways to spend your summers, just don't plan on contemplating it afterwards, like you did with Inception, because afterwards, you'll simply be asking yourself "what's next?"

EDITORS NOTE: This review will be everywhere, including Creative Loafing and SpoilerTV. Check out the reactions, and thanks for the clicks!

Manos: Hands of Fate 2?

If you are into FAIL-worthy movies, (and let’s face it, who isn’t) then you will have heard about a movie called Manos: Hands of Fate. The movie, which ranks as number 8 on the all time worst movies on IMDB list is infamous for being nearly unwatchable. When the film was dragged out of obscurity by the folks over at Mystery Science Theater 3000, the film became something of a cult film, and “the gold standard for unwatchable films” according to the MST3K crew. Well, now, it looks like the Manos people are back, and this time, it’s a sequel!

According to Torgolives.com, “indie filmmaker” Rupert Talbot Munch Sr. is making a sequel with the blessing of the original cast, entitled MANOS: The Search For Valley Lodge. Munch has brought back some of the original cast, including the famous Torgo for the highly anticipated sequel (and by “highly,” I mean, I’m kind of looking forward to it, and that is about it). The film also has ex WWE star Gene Snitsky making an appearance in the film, so you know it’s going to be good.

The synopsis seems simple enough, “A woman battling mental illness regains her memory and heads into the deserts of El Paso, Texas to confront her inner demons and discover her mysterious past. (Supernatural Thriller... or is it?).” The movie is expected to come out sometime in 2013, or sooner, according to the website. While I expect this movie to be filmed like a well-oiled machine, I wouldn’t expect much sooner. Until then, we have plenty of time for the 3 Guys crew to review it and enjoy the magic that is Manos: Hands of Fate.

Are you excited about the potential sequel? What is your gold standard for unwatchable movies? Let me know in the comments, and don’t be surprised if you see one or two of them appear in the Holy FAIL column at some point.

God of War - Indie style

This cracked me up, and since it's Friday, and everyone is gearing up for Inception, I figured something light would be good. Now, while I admit it's been awhile since I've played God of War, I don't remember all this.

Sharktopus trailer is all kinds of awesome

Check out this amazing trailer for a movie I can't wait to see; Sharktopus! Yeah, I'm not kidding, they actually made a CGI'd shark/Octopus mix, and it is all kinds of terribly great! The music in the trailer may be the best part for me, or the fact that the thing growls!

Grab a beer and take a look!

Movie Review - Inception - Spoiler Free -

“Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?” It’s a line from 1999’s The Matrix, a line Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan took and ran with, creating a brilliant movie, filled with action, jaw dropping visuals and so much more in this year’s Inception.

After leaving the theater, I asked my fellow movie geeks how I would describe the movie, and both were still in shock from what they had just witnessed and offered no help. When the movie was over, we all just sat there a bit and wondered what had actually happened. None of us could offer any clue, but we all knew one thing; we liked it. Inception involves a group of people who specialize in breaking into other peoples dreams and retrieving information. The best of them, Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), is looking to return to his family after a tragic event happens. When a corporate figure, played by Ken Watanabe approaches them and offers the possibility of returning, Cobb’s team jumps on the chance, only to learn there’s a catch; they must reverse the process and plant an idea in the head of the mark, played by Cillian Murphy. There’s more, but it gets really complicated and gives away too much of the plot.

The movie was awe-inspiring in the visuals and had me blown away in several scenes, leaving me wondering how they could have filmed such a scene. The one that immedietly comes to mind is the hallway scene involving Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character weightless, fighting off thugs. The landscapes were amazing, and brilliant, and the CGI was really cleverly hidden, not taking away from the depth of the movie at all. The result makes you feel like you are in one of the stories dreams, and like in the story, you aren’t going to want to wake up.

The acting of everyone involved was quite good. DiCaprio seems like a wise choice for the lead, as he carried the necessary depth and emotion well, along with having a great onscreen presence. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page and Cillian Murphy all were very good as well, although emotions and matters of the heart were not the strengths of this movie. The focus and strength was all in the brain, and the movie will give yours a workout.

In the end, this movie, like all good philosophical questions, will leave you with more questions than answers, requiring multiple viewings to understand the movie fully. However, the concept of multiple viewings of this film is a very good one, as it was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. The depth of this movie could be a problem with some viewers who are looking to shut their brain off for a few hours, as it takes quite a bit of work to keep up with the complex storylines.

After you see Inception, and I encourage everyone to do so, when you go to sleep, you will be asking yourself if you are going to sleep or waking up, which hints at the depth of this incredible movie. Finally, a summer movie in 2010 worth every second!

Check out the post on SpoilerTV's website HERE.

Do you have a problem with Trailer-only scenes?

The trailer for Predators looked amazing. It showed an escalation way above anything we've seen. There are more humans, more guns, they're on a different planet, and the hero gets lit up by a dozen predator laser sights getting ready to blast him into a billion pieces. The only problem is that shot that helped escalate the anticipation, along with the stakes never appears in the movie. Producer Robert Rodriguez told MTV he often films scenes just for the trailer to give the audience a taste, but not to ruin the movie. Is this a good idea, or is kinda like movie false advertising?

I can understand not wanting to ruin the best parts of the movie in the trailer. There is nothing worse than seeing every good moment before stepping foot into the theater. When it comes to trailers, less is more, but it seems like Rodriguez believes different is more in the case of the Predators trailer.

The trailer does infer that there are 13 or 14 predators getting ready to kill star Adrien Brody, when in the movie, we see a total of four predators, and in the scene, 13 lights are replaced by just one, which seems like advertising something great, and instead of replacing it with something equally great, Rodriguez replaces it with something average. Now, I did love Predators, but the famous scene from the trailer is noticeably absent. Next time, I'll take the chance of seeing pieces of the movie before, so I can make a better opinion of the movie.

So, what do you think, is it false advertising, or just another trick in the Hollywood machine? Sound off in the comments section, it's what that section is for!

Check out the goodness that is this post...only at Creative Loafing by clicking HERE!

DVD Review - Greenberg

Greenberg is the little French movie with American accents, directed by Noah Baumbach, and starring Ben Stiller. CL Contributor Anthony Nicholas reviewed the movie when it came out, and now that it comes out on DVD, it's time to take another look.

In Nicholas's review, he pointed out how wonderful the performances of Stiller and especially Greta Gerwig. He was right in gushing, as the performances were truly incredible. Stiller truly nails the really screwed up titular character, and has plenty of really akward moments, and the most akward sex scene ever with the equally talented Gerwig.

The performances, however, are where the goodness stopped for me. While the movie was very querky, it was a character piece that focused on Greenberg for a period of time. It was quite slow, and if you aren't able to identify with Stiller's many social issues, and dilemas , then you are not going to like this movie. The comedy was more situational, and quite sparse for a movie that describes itself as a dark comedy.

The special features were equally disappointing for me. I was hoping for a look into the inspiration, and maybe how Stiller and Gerwig got their inspiration, but, instead, we get the movie's trailer, which I never understand why they do that, I mean, why sell the movie on the DVD of the same movie? Anyway, there is also a five minute featurette with a quick writer interview, along with a quick interview with why Ben Stiller wanted to do the movie.

Sadly, the special features were incredibly lacking. I would have loved a director commentary, or even an interview with Greta Gerwig, explaining her inspiration. I would have loved the actors interpretation of the movie, but sadly, with none of that, I can't recommend you even renting this movie.

So, overall, with very little special features, and an unidentifiable story for me, I would say, stay clear of this movie, unless you really want to see Ben Stiller act well for a change.

EDITORS NOTE: This appeared in the lovely pages of Creative Loafing. You can see it HERE.

Psych Season 4 DVD Review

Fake Psychic Shawn Spencer, and sidekick Burton Guster are back for season 5 of the USA Networks hit series, Psych. Beforehand, you need to catch up with season 4, and ask yourself one question, "are you a fan of delicious flavor?" As a huge fan of Psych, I loved season 4, but lets see if it's worth a Ulysses S Grant ($50).

The episode has some great hits, and revolves around Juliet and Shawn working out their awkwardness, and Shawns feeling for Juliet, while Shawn is dating Abigail (guest star Rachael Leigh Cook). The season had several guest stars, like Carey Elwes, Heroes star Sendhill Ramamurthy, James Brolin, Ally Sheedy, Jaleel White and the infamous Judd Nelson, among others. Lets look at some of my favorite episodes.

The first episode that got my funny bone is "The Devil's in the details...and in the upstairs bedroom." It guest stars Ray Wise, and is a take on the movie The Exorcist, with Shawn being skeptical, and Gus believing a girl is truly possessed. The episode is known for Shawn's commercial theme "bum bum bum, muffins!"

Another great episode is "You can't handle this episode," with guest stars Robert Patrick, and John Cena, as Juliet's brother, Ewan. Shawn is investigating a murder, and starts to suspect Ewan being linked to some shady military dealings. Cena and Shawn played so well off each other, but it also had a bit of a wall between Shawn and Juliet.

The last episode I had to talk about was the season finale. As was last season, the episode forgoes some of the comedy for the more seriousness. The episode is called "Mr. Yin Presents..." and has guest stars Ally Sheedy and Cook as Shawn is hunting the famous Mr. Yin, the opposite of Sheedy's Yang serial killer. The episode was Psych's take on Alfred Hitchcock, and fans will see plenty to love about this episode. Besides the great mystery, and a conclusion to Abigail's storyline, it leaves the killer completely mysterious, and Juliet nearly killed. This was one of the best episodes in Psych history.

While the season was great, the special features were only alright. I admit, I was bummed there weren't any of the famous Psychouts you see at the end of some of the episodes. There was a gag reel, which is really funny, along with some deleted scenes on several episodes, along with four episodes having audio commentary. The commentary was very good, and as entertaining as the episodes.

I loved this season of Psych, and as such recommend this to any Psych fan, or any fan of delicious flavor, or good television. USA has hit gold with this show, and I can't wait for more Psych.

EDITORS NOTE: This was also on Creative Loafing's site. Click HERE to see it.

100 Cheesiest movie quotes of all time

Check out this slightly NSFW video of some of the cheesiest movie quotes of all time. I'm pretty sure there was only one or two I didn't know, but it was good to see they included The Room, among others. Check it out, it's worth your 10 minutes.

Predator Remake

This is another instance where the creativity on the Internet astounds me. Well, maybe "astounding" is a bit excessive, but it does make me laugh. Check out this remake of the classic Predator, except, with all women.

Now, this is something I need to get working on!

Saw VII gets a new title...and you aren't going to like it

That headline is nominated for understatement of the year, as the Saw VII title change is monumentally goofy, and just plain dumb.

Are you ready for this? Brace yourself. Saw fans may want to sit down.

Saw VII's new title is Saw 3D: The Traps Come to Life.

Yeah, I know, it's a sad, sad day in the horror movie world.

Classic '80s opening credits for Firefly

I am a huge Firefly fan. We call ourselves the Browncoats, and sadly there weren't enough of us around when the show was on the air to keep it on the air more than 13 episodes (Damn you FOX). But since then, a movie, Serenity, and countless fan-made works have appeared online as a show of support for the show, and the characters. Here is one such video, a classic '80s credits intro to the show. The original into is amazing, but this is pretty entertaining. Which do you like better?

The '80's version:


The Original version:

Emmy's List

The Emmy's will be announced August 29th, with Jimmy Fallon. Here is the list of the nominees. Glee, by the way had 19 nominations, with The Pacific receiving the most at 24. I'll highlight my pick for winners, but I don't like how many snubs there were (I'm looking at you Burn Notice and Deadliest Catch)


COMEDY
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthuasiasm
*Glee*
The Office
Modern Family
30 Rock
Nurse Jackie

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Matthew Morrison, Glee
*Tony Shaloub, Monk*
Steve Carell, The Office
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
*Lea Michele, Glee*
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Toni Collette, United States of Tara

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Chris Colfer, Glee
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
*Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother*

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
*Jane Lynch, Glee*
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
*Mike O'Malley, Glee*
Fred Willard, Modern Family
Eli Wallach, Nurse Jackie
Jon Hamm, 30 Rock
Neil Patrick Harris, Glee
Will Arnett, 30 Rock

GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Kristin Chenoweth, Glee
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live
Jane Lynch, Two And A Half Men
Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives
Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
*Betty White, Saturday Night Live*
Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock


DRAMA
BEST DRAMA SERIES
True Blood
Dexter
Mad Men
The Good Wife
Breaking Bad
*Lost*

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Hugh Laurie, House
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
*Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad*
Matthew Fox, Lost

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
*Glenn Close, Damages*
January Jones, Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
John Slattery, Mad Men
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Martin Short, Damages
*Terry O'Quinn, Lost*
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age
Michael Emerson, Lost

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Rose Byrne, Damages
*Christina Hendricks, Mad Men*
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Sharon Gless, Burn Notice
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Robert Morse, Mad Men
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
*John Lithgow, Dexter*
Ted Danson, Damages
Gregory Itzin, 24
Dylan Baker, The Good Wife
Beau Bridges, The Closer

GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Mary Kay Place, Big Love
*Lily Tomlin, Damages*
Sissy Spacek, Big Love
Elizabeth Mitchell, Lost
Ann-Margret, Law & Order: SVU
Shirley Jones, The Cleaner


REALITY
REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
American Idol
Dancing with the Stars
*The Amazing Race*
Project Runway
Top Chef

HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
*Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars*
Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race
Jeff Probst, Survivor
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol
Heidi Klum

REALITY SERIES
Antiques Roadshow
*MythBusters*
Undercover Boss
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
Dirty Jobs
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Movie Review - Predators

Here is the post that ended up on Creative Loafing. You can check out the finished product HERE. A struggling writer always appreciates the support!

When I was younger, and even now, for that matter, I loved the original Predator movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie had a great cat and mouse game, some good suspense and two larger than life foes going at it. Sadly, the franchise hit a down note with every installment since, but Robert Rodriguez looks to revitalize the franchise with a return to basics in Predators, and more interestingly, he chose Adrien Brody (and his nose) to lead the movie. So, as a fan of the first one, I have some serious standards. In a summer of disappointments, Predators surely can’t live up to the hype, can it? It can, and I’ll stop calling you Shirley.

Predators starts off incredibly with our hero (Brody) free falling. As he wakes up and realizes the ground is coming really quick, he works to free his parachute. It’s a quick smack in the face to get you awake for what is to come as Brody’s bad ass character meets up with 7 other characters who make up some of Earth’s greatest predators. They are dropped on this alien planet to duel with all kinds of predators, and some of their new toys. The movie quickly shows you a Predator we recognize that is beaten and tied up, showing us that these predators are so much bigger and more terrifying than any previous visitors. Now, these loners have to work together to get off this game preserve before the predators hunt and kill them all.

The biggest thing you will notice is that this movie is more than just a return to form, it takes everything that was great from the first Predator movie and amplifies it. You have a few larger than life characters in the humans, and you have not one, but several predators hunting you. There are many traps and pitfalls, and even a guy dueling a predator with a Samurai Sword. You also have the jungle landscape, which played such a big part in the first movie making a dominating return on an alien world, here. And, the most important parts are the one-liners, there are a few similar to the classic “get to the choppah,” like “you’re ass is awesome!” or my favorite “it’s 5 o’clock, it’s rape time,” which is said by the meak Topher Grace, by the way.

The other thing you will notice, besides the landscape will be the cast. Brody is surprisingly good in this movie. I had some doubts going in, but was really impressed by his bad-assery (it’s a word). Although the movie had to have the stereotypes like the Asian guy, the black guy, and the Mexican guy (Machete’s Danny Trejo), they all were quite impressive. My favorite however, was Laurence Fishburne’s character. He stole the movie in the short time he was on screen as the crazy survivor who somehow lived. The other jewel was Topher Grace. His character is dropped down, and is a total wimp, and is completely Topher, but the good part is finding out why he was chosen to be hunted.

Overall, there was very little not to like. If you like the first one, you will love this one. The pacing is good, there is some good suspense, some larger than life characters, and some amazing battles that make this one of the more fun summer popcorn flicks this year. This will please anyone who is looking for a big, fun, slightly cheesy way to get out of the heat.

A random thought - "Here's what to see"

As I read through my many movie blogs this morning, I came across a post that had the headline "Here's what to see the rest of the year," or something similar. After looking at the post, I got a bit annoyed, because there were only a few movies on there, and in my opinion, they left out one or two I'm looking forward to.

This got me thinking about the stupidity of the headline, and maybe I'm over thinking it, but, work with me, here. As a movie fan, not a movie snob, I think you should try to see every movie, or any movie, not just ones that could win an Academy Award. Sure those movies will have plenty of attention, and sure, they may be technically superior to a movie like Jonah Hex, but does that mean you shouldn't see any of the crap out there?

It seems like a slippery slope to me, like Adam Sandler's character in Click, you start to skip the ones that look stupid, and the ones that Award Snobs don't think you should see, and then you start skipping comic book movies, because they are "so yesterday" and then you start skipping ones that probably won't win best picture, and what are you left with? One, maybe two movies this year. I had a professor that told me movies should be treated like another language, you should try to see as many as you can, and see them often, to keep yourself speaking the language.

So, instead of trying to see the ones on some list, trying seeing all of them. Sure, you may have to sit through a few Jonah Hex's or maybe one or two Death at a Funeral's, but is it really that bad? Besides, it makes the ones that amaze you that much sweeter!

So, that's my rant for today. What do you think? Did I over think it a bit? Do you stick to a list?

Happy Birthday Back to the Future!

That's right, one of the best trilogies of all time, and possibly the best '80's movie ever, Back to the Future turned 25 years old TODAY. I know, I know, Great Scott it makes me feel old. It seems like yesterday Marty got in his Delorean and went back to 1955, and in doing so, made everyone want a Delorean.

I think its time to pull out the DVD collection in honor of the birthday!

Grownups - Some thoughts

Well, I didn't feel like doing a full review for the movie. There are plenty of reason, from me being really lazy, to being kinda busy, and mainly because it kinda fits the movie to just sit around and shoot the shit over the movie.

Grownups is an Adam Sandler movie, which automatically comes with some biases, depending on your opinion of him. For me, I am not a big fan of Sandler. I think his jokes are more than a bit tired, and he hasn't been in a good movie since The Wedding Singer. Anyway, I digress. The movie is about Sandler's character, and his pals, who, after enjoying some youth innocence and winning a basketball game, all go their own ways, until the coach of the team dies and brings them all back together. And when they get back together, they all crack jokes, and make fun of each other.

There are those who say this movie was just an excuse for Sandler to sit around with his friends and crack jokes and have a good time, and for the most part, I agree. There was a lot of that, and his friends seemed to be loving it.

Kevin James was the comedy in the movie. He did the physical comedy, set up most of the punchlines and also was most of the heart in the movie. I think he's a skilled comedian, and it showed here. His cast members weren't really there to back him up, however. Chris Rock was kinda in the background, along with David Spade, and Rob Schneider was the idiot in the group, leaving Sandler as the real straight-faced guy, along with his sidekick, James.

I actually, didn't hate the movie, I sort of liked it. What I didn't like, though, were the characters. Not one of them were particularly likable. Sandler was a Hollywood guy, who was a total D-bag, married to a nasty Selma Hyack; Chris Rock was a pansy house-wife; Rob Schneider was creapy; David Spade was...well, I don't even know, but pathetic comes to mind and Kevin James was a below-average family-man.

As I said, I didn't hate the movie, because, as the movie went on, and they realized they needed to throw a plot into the movie, they picked a good one, in trying to make time with a family, and realizing how important your family is and all that, so by the time the movie is over, you feel like the characters that ended on film wasn't half bad for a family flick.

Overall, you could really do worse with some of the movies in this summer season, but I would say, unless you're bored, wait for it to come out on DVD, and throw it in the ol' Netflix queue.

Letters to Kevin

So, I've been getting weird letters in the mail for months now, and I have no idea what they are about. There is no return address, and no name, just "to Kevin" and my address. He says he knows me, but I have no idea. It's all kinda weird, so I've been typing them up and putting them on an alternate blog site "http://tokevin-randomletters.blogspot.com/" I only have a few up right now, but I'm trying to get them posted as quickly as I can, because the more letters I get, the weirder it gets. Check it out.

Thanks!

-Kevin

Innovation: Cardboard War is Hell

I loved this video. I'm pretty sure every kid dreams of doing this. In fact, I still want to do this.

According to Gizmodo: "it took about six weeks to put together. The process involved 59 layers of sound effects, 427 manual frames to rotoscope, and I'm sure countless arguments about who got to shoot the grenade launcher."

And, seriously, I want the grenade launcher. And, just FYI, the sniper is still alive!

Let Me In trailer is impressive

This project started out with all kinds of promises of being lame. It's a remake of Let the Right One In, a great German horror movie. Generally, when remaking a foreign horror movie, something gets lost in the translation, something like quality (I'm looking at the Grudge, and The Eye). However, with the inclusion of Cloverfield director Matt Reeves and Hit Girl herself, Chloe Moretz, I started to get a bit more interested. Now, the trailer has my full attention!

And, is anyone else really impressed at Chloe Moretz besides me? I mean, Kick Ass and now this? I think we have a very young star on our hands.

Check out the trailer, and let me know what you think!