Caprica Recap - Episode 11

And now for the second episode of the rest of the series, in which we find out what the other characters have been up to. Well, not really, but close enough I suppose. I am very patient after all, which is something that viewers really need to be in order to keep watching this show. Despite the still seemingly slow development of the plot, the things that have happened have been quite interesting. There are lots of small details that do a fair job of building emotion and tension, if not outright suspense. Instead of wondering what will happen next, I find myself wondering how it will happen and sometimes why. This is clearly a show more about thinking than action. Throughout the episode the location and time of events is chronicled, which I suppose gave a good idea of how quickly the events were taking place. Perhaps to quicken the pace? It was interesting to think that instead of all of these things happening simultaneously, there was a succession of events and a clear illustration of cause and effect. It became easier to see how intertwined everything is.

Caprica Recap - Episode 10

Is everyone as excited as me that Caprica is back? No? Well, that makes me sad. I feel like this show has lots of potential and is just floating around in a sea of average. Eventually it'll get to the point, I know it. Every episode I watch is like another step in the right direction. I keep coming back and giving the show another chance to turn on its inherent awesome. I’m more patient than most, but I still feel like the mid-season break was a bad idea. It just seemed to make it easier to forget to watch the show. Though the mid-season finale was pretty explosive, with everything exploding and all, I still had a hard time remembering what was going on. But when I did I also remembered how many great parts there were to this show. Maybe I’m just enjoying rooting for an underdog because there are so few great sci-fi television shows. I really hope this one pulls through.

A movie about garden gnomes...

 I--I have no words...

Best Albums of Summer 2010: Number Two

The National may very well be my absolute favorite band of the moment. I fell in love with The National quickly and passionately upon hearing their “breakthrough” album, Alligator. When I bought it, I let the album play on repeat for twelve hours straight. The National is that easy to listen to. Boxer was another masterpiece. In fact, I recommend a listen to those two albums before getting High Violet. Besides hearing three amazing albums, you can listen as their sound matures.

Best Albums of Summer 2010: Day One

In the world of movies, this past summer was fairly forgettable. We've seen better, and we've seen worse. The world of news has been...frustrating. But in the world of music, this summer has been fantastic. So many amazing albums were released this summer that it felt like my mp3 player was always full and my pockets were always empty. So, I'm writing a series of my five favorite albums of this past season. I've never written about music before, so the writing may be rough. Rest assured, the music is much better than the writing.

Predators

The fearsome warrior creatures in dreads have come a long way. From picking off Arnold Schwarzenegger's elite military team in a Central American jungle to fighting acid-spewing Aliens to fighting the Predalien hybrid thing. And now their lust for the hunt, so insatiable, forces them to assemble a team of the Earth's seven most dangerous humans...and Topher Grace. These people are literally dropped onto a game preserve planet from teh sky. There is no real explanation for that, but then-this isn't a movie for explanations.

Trailer Tuesday

The two trailers today are for Devil and Due Date.  Oooh alliteration. I like it!

Suggestion Box #18: Inception

Suggestion Box #17: The Last Airbender

Toy Story 3

Over the last decade and a half, Pixar has established itself as the most reliable name brand in Hollywood. Every two years or so, Pixar puts out an animated feature that rivals just about any other movie put out that year. In 1995, the original Toy Story set the benchmark for a studio that would go on to produce some of the most acclaimed and highest grossing animated films of all time. In fact, Toy Story 2 is still one of the few movies to hit 100% on Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer. So when they put out a movie, it's pretty safe to walk into it with high expectations. I walked into Toy Story 3 with absolutely sky-high expectations, and I have to say that I was still blown away. The final installment in the trilogy is better than a second sequel has any business being. For me, it's easily the most impacting of three, and may actually be the most complete entry.

Trailer Tuesday...erm, I mean Wednesday

 I know these are late, but hey, I spent yesterday getting 15 stitches in my leg. Give a girl a break. Also, enjoy!

Suggestion Box #16: Red Dead Redemption

The Last Airbender

Going into The Last Airbender, I wasn't expecting an exact reenactment of the nearly perfect animated television show. Adaptations from one medium to another can be tricky. Where a television show has months to develop a story and character relations, a movie only has two to three hours. Really, all I expect from an adaptation is the same basic story and the same spirit as the source material. With Avatar: The Last Airbender, that should have been more than doable. It should have been paint by numbers easy. Yet M. Night Shyamalan managed to fail. Sure, the movie has the same basic story, but the spirit of the original is completely missing. After watching the movie, I wondered if Shyamalan had ever even watched the show before making this movie or if someone had just told him about it over drinks.

The A-Team

I feel that before I start talking about Joe Carnahan's re-make of the 1980's TV series The A-Team, I state that I'm not opposed to fun action movies that don't make a whole lot of sense. I enjoyed Carnahan's Smokin' Aces from a few years ago even, and that's a movie that was universally panned. Earlier this year, I very much enjoyed The Losers despite the movie's warts. So with that understanding in mind, I have to be honest. I hated The A-Team. Not because the movie was terrible on its own. It certainly wasn't as bad as Clash of the Titans or Robin Hood were. I hated it because of what it represented, and the ways in which it failed. I hated it because, in a year that's been littered with movies that are thinly veiled cash grabs using name recognition to bring in moviegoers, this might have been the most blatant. I hated it because it's yet another shaky-cam movie when it would've been a much more effective movie without it. Most of all though, I hated it because somewhere in this smoldering pile of celluloid, there was a damn entertaining movie.

Trailer Tuesday and a Call For Volunteers

 Two more trailers for you Tuesday enjoyment and a small-ish request...

Suggestion Box #15: Lost/BP

Scott Pilgrim vs The World Trailer

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World Trailer...

Trailer Tuesday

Two movie trailers for your Tuesday enjoyment!

Suggestion Box #14: E3

Get Him to the Greek

Get Him to the Greek starts out with what may be the most hilarious music video ever filmed. From the credits, we know exactly what this movie is going to set out to do. In the vein of other R-rated comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which spun off Greek), Knocked Up, and The Hangover, Get Him to the Greek is a movie that has no qualms about crossing into vulgar, gross-out comedy territory. It does so gleefully, and yet it never feels like it's falling back on that to force out a few laughs. Those jokes all fit naturally into this story, and what elevates the material here is its sense of adventure. Just when you think this movie is about to sputter to the finish and end in a completely predictable fashion, it throws something into the mix that most other comedies would have either left out entirely, or completely botched. That adventurous spirit and willingness to take the joke a step further is what makes this movie gasp-inducing funny, but what really makes this movie stand above other comedies is its heart.

The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid made in 1984 is a movie icon. I've heard references to it all my life. We see influences in many, many other movies. Although it was itself strongly influenced by Rocky, which was directed by the same John G. Avildsen seven years prior. If I had seen the original movie, it was before I was self aware, so I watched it earlier last week before I watched the remake. I loved it. Terribly intrusive 80's music aside, the original movie is fantastic. Since that movie was made there have been five Rocky sequels and four Karate Kid sequels. Even outside these franchises, there have been dozens of imitators. The style has now become a formula. So, I knew going into the remade The Karate Kid that it would be impossible to recapture the magic of the original. I was right, but that doesn't mean Harold Zwart's The Karate Kid is a terrible movie by any means. It's just not a great one either.

Trailer Tuesday

Enjoy some movie trailer happiness. The Last Airbender and Eclipse.

Suggestion Box #13: The A-Team

Vanguard

Over the course of the last few years I’ve lost pretty much all of my faith in the news media. Actually, it was all gone once Paris Hilton was all over CNN like anyone gave a shit. And that seems like a lifetime ago. Before that I had a lot of respect for the people that brought me news about the world, and told me about things I would not have otherwise known. Now it just seems like journalistic integrity is old fashioned, and news sources would rather take the easy way to a story. Which is basically just repeating whatever random thing they hear without checking sources or finding more information. It’s just easier and quicker to put everything out there and then retract info, only maybe not everyone gets the second memo and the original falsities still float around. Vanguard is an amazing show because the reporters really have a passion for delivering information. They go to far away places and often end up in dangerous situations in order to bring us knowledge, and especially to illuminate often ignored subjects.

Splice

The friend I saw Splice with decided the moments the ending credits rolled that she didn't like this movie. I could understand her reaction. Splice isn't a pleasant film. At times, it was difficult to watch.  Filled with disturbing, unsettling scenes that stick with you for a while. What we have here is a film that affected its audience in the manner it had intended. So, what we have here is a good movie.

Winter's Bone Trailer

Winter's Bone was the winner of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. It looks amazing. It's playing in several states, Nebraska not being one of them. :(

Suggestion Box #12: Lost Epilogue

Sex in the City 2

Oh this was bad. So. Bad. And so long! I would have been impressed that such a thin plot could have been stretched our 2 hours and 45 minutes if it weren't for the fact that I had to sit through it. Does anyone remember the beginning of the series? Sex in the City was groundbreaking in the way it presented women speaking frankly and honestly about their sexuality. We had a television show featuring thirty-something single women whose only goals didn't revolve around marriage and babies. It was smart, funny, and bold. The fashion and cocktails were just a bonus. By the end of the series, fashion and cocktails was all that was left. And now we're on to the second movie- a mess with no humor, no intelligence, and no plot.

MacGruber

I'm not going to provide the usual lengthy review for MacGruber. The trailers, in a sense, speak for themselves. This is a movie that knows exactly what its audience and goes after it. If you're a fan of raunchy comedies, especially comedies with witty dialogue, you'll love this movie. I loved it. It's a fantastic true parody of 80's action movies, rather than normal parody dreck that the Scary Movie people have been responsible for. If that's not your movie and comedic sensibilities, you'll find this movie entirely unengaging, and ultimately stupid.

It's worth noting that the jokes in the trailer are much more funny in context. It's also worth noting that, while I felt the movie completely succeeded in parts, it dragged along in others. Everything in MacGruber builds to some kind of joke. Whether or not they're funny depends on what you're into.

Robin Hood

Did we need another Robin Hood movie? Ridley Scott thought we did. In fairness, it's been 19 years since Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, the last serious Robin Hood adaptation. It's been 17 years since any Robin Hood movie at all (Robin Hood: Men in Tights being the last). But it's a story that most people know pretty well. It's a story of a man that robs from the rich to give to the poor, all the while causing headaches for the Sheriff of Nottingham and King John, and vying for the hand of the lovely Maid Marion. See? I can recite that from memory without having seen Scott's Robin Hood. After all, I've seen Disney's Robin Hood, and I've seen Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood. In fact, Robin Hood has been portrayed on either the silver screen or the television screen over 110 times, which I'd imagine has to be more than just about any other character. So when the trailer promised us the "untold story" of the legend, I was a bit skeptical. I think it's safe to say that we've seen this story told in almost every way imaginable. I was mistaken, however. I had failed to realize that the story hadn't been told in such a boring fashion yet.

Suggestion Box #11: Prince of Persia

Arguing With Idiots by Glenn Beck

Getting through this book was a chore, and it’s not even that long. The whole thing weighs in at nearly exactly 300 full color cartoon and graph filled pages. Without all that other nonsense, I think it would barely be 200. That was one of the things that made it difficult for me to read, every few paragraphs the narrative is interrupted by some kind of info-graph, quote, or fun fact. Most are meant to be funny, but they fall short and add little or nothing to the discussion. Especially the uninformative graphs and vague statistics. The pages themselves are printed to look aged and dog-eared, I guess to resemble old propaganda. Ironic, since this is a new version of the same old thing. The premise is Glen Beck arguing with himself. One of his selves is dressed in powdered wig and breeches, and the other in a soviet kitschy uniform. My guess is that the latter is the idiot, though it’s hard to be certain. The paragraphs are broken up in a sort of question and answer format, in which silly questions or statements are rebutted with his usual prattle. It’s written in the same annoying rambling way that he talks, which could be soothing to some like white noise. Personally, it makes me grind my teeth.

Suggestion Box #10: Glenn Beck

Iron Man 2

Two summers ago, comic book fans got the Batman movie they had waited decades for in The Dark Knight, and were surprised when Iron Man turned out to be one of the better Marvel Comics adaptations to date. Comic book fans were spoiled. Those movies helped take a genre of movie that had been widely ridiculed during the 1990s and solidified them as both box office draws and legitimately good works of cinema when put into the right director's hands. Those movies helped pave the way for the outstanding comic book adaptations over the past couple of years like Kick-Ass and Watchmen. And they allowed both Marvel and DC Comics to start taking chances with sequels and franchises. Comic book movies are now judged against the bar set by those movies, and Iron Man 2 is no exception. But it's important to temper expectations. If you expect Iron Man 2 to be anything but a drop off from Iron Man, you'll be disappointed.

Just Wright

    Well, this movie was a surprise. I would never have chosen to see this movie if it wasn't for an assignment. So, today, I'm glad that I'm a movie reviewer- for nice little surprises like this one. I'm not even sure I should have liked Sanaa Hamri's Just Wright. It's completely formulaic and has an embarrassing title. Maybe something about the characters and the story resonated with me. Maybe I appreciated the heroine's integrity to herself that remained throughout the film. Maybe this time, I fell for the cheesy, fairytale storyline. Ridiculous title aside, Just Wright was engaging and Queen Latifah was as usual, amazing.

Letters to Juliet

    Alright, Ladies. We've had a rough year so far. Movies marketed to women have been disturbingly terrible all year. I'm talking about lazy writing, two-dimensional characters, and unintelligent storylines. I've sat through comedic relief that consisted of people running into lamp posts and women making walrus-like noises while giving birth. I've watched obnoxiously, self-absorbed women make bad decisions and fall for boring men. There hasn't been an ounce of romance or comedy in the romantic comedies and the last good drama had a catastrophic ending that ruined the rest of the movie. In fact, the movies marketed towards women have been some of the worst movies I've seen this year. I can't say that about Letters to Juliet. I'm not saying that Letters to Juliet was mind-blowingly moving or worth winning any awards. I am saying that it could be woth watching. Compared to the rest of this year's romances, that's saying a lot.

Happy Town

Somehow I can’t get tired of television shows where the plot is carried by a lack of information, and everything is a mystery. Every single episode makes no sense, and the few questions answered only really open the door to more questions. I’m sure it’ll get old eventually, but shows like this are way better than reality shows. Unless they’re super trashy, like Bad Girls Club or Jersey Shore. Those have an addictive quality much like the every episode is a mystery shows, because every episode kind of is a mystery. Anyway, this show’s whole purpose is the fact that there’s something going down in Happy Town, and it’s not happy. How Haplin, Missouri got its nickname is the first mystery, because the whole place is kind of creepy right away. Oh, the residents say they’re happy, and that the town is a wholesome place full of quasi-rural charm that always smells like freshly baked bread, but we know something is up.

Suggestion Box #9: Inglourious Basterds

A Nightmare on Elm Street

When Platinum Dunes redid The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and did it terribly, I didn't care all that much. I was never a huge fan of the original. Likewise, I didn't bother watching The Amityville Horror remake that they did. I was a little more disturbed by how poorly done the Friday the 13th remake was because I actually did enjoy those movies growing up, but they didn't exactly hold a special place in my memory. No, the movie that always scared the pants off of me growing up was A Nightmare on Elm Street. I cherished that movie, and the early entries in the series, because it presented a villain that was altogether terrifying. Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers were unstoppable killing machines, sure. But they were just relentless. They wanted to kill you and be done with it. Not Freddy Krueger. Freddy Krueger wanted to play with you first. He psychologically tortured teenagers before he dispatched of them. And while Jason and Michael were terrifying because you couldn't hurt them... Freddy wasn't even on our plane of reality. To fight him, you had to do it on his turf, where he could manipulate anything to his will. So when Platinum Dunes announced they were remaking A Nightmare on Elm Street, I instinctively cringed. You can mess with Jason all you want. Leave Freddy out of it.

Babies

 
    Babies are cute and squishy. They do silly things like suck on their own toes and babble. It's a pretty natural thing to like babies. I mean, sure, there are some people who don't care for the smells and sounds they make and there are a few scorned toddlers who are resentful of their baby siblings. And sure, there are those who are simply indifferent to babies. But generally, babies are a fairly inoffensive topic. Babies can, however, be an interesting topic. There are so many different aspects to the human experience. Child development is an important one. It's during this stage of our lives when the very beginning of enculturation occurs.When we learn our individual society's values and rules. Just imagine the possibilities of a documentary that follows the first stage of life for a child in four very different parts of the world. Babies doesn't seek out to make any cultural discoveries. Babies doesn't try to educate the masses either. No, Babies is about how babies are cute and squishy.

The Boondocks

This show’s third season was pushed back to the point of nearly driving me insane. First I heard that it was supposed to air in March, which turned into April, and then finally May. The wait was long, but I think it was well worth it. Really each new season is like Christmas because I didn't think it would be renewed from the first season. Since it keeps coming back my biggest fear for the show is that it will stop being awesome, but each season keeps it fresh and funny. The creator, Aaron McGruder, is obviously a well-spring of irreverent comic genius. The world needs more people like him to thwap them about the head and neck with realness.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

It was by complete chance, a random bit of serendipity, that I heard of this novel. While I was working on my computer, I was vaguely listening to the television in the background. It was on Current, my favorite randomness channel. Airing was a clip from Embedded about musical artist Zee Avi (whose music is pretty great), who was in a book store talking about her favorite books. One of them was The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which she quoted. It was the quote that caught my attention, as it happened to be just the thing to make me feel better at just that moment. So I decided that I needed to read the rest of the book, which was an extremely good idea.

Suggestion Box #8: Lost

Furry Vengeance

    Oh Furry Vengeance, what could I possibly say about you that most people haven't already inferred by watching the trailer? Must I be forced to simply validate what is already known about you? Of course, how harsh can I be? It's not like you were out to be an Oscar winning comedy, were you?  No, you just wanted people to laugh by humiliating a generally well liked actor via a gang of cruel forest creatures while at the same time, spreading a message everyone can agree with. "Let's save the forest or else all the little forest creatures will seek vengeance and you will know their wrath." Oooh that sounds like a B-rated horror flick. Anyway, I think I covered all of the excuses one normally hears for why a movie such as this shouldn't criticized harshly. Mostly that it wasn't trying to be great. Well, Furry Vengeance wasn't great. It wasn't good either.

The Losers

Recently, I was told by a friend of mine that I needed to lighten up and realize that an action movie is just an action movie. He told me that I was taking the fun out of action movies if I expect them to be anything other than guns, explosions, and bad dialogue. In my defense, I don't dislike action movies on principle, just as I don't dislike romantic comedies or horror films or kids movies. I like action movies when they're done well. I dislike them when they're, well, Clash of the Titans. I don't have to worry about defending The Losers. It may not be a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination, and it's certainly not anything more than a run-of-the-mill action movie. But it's an action movie done the way that an action movie is supposed to be done.

Garden Spells

 People often read to escape into a different world. Garden Spells, written by Sarah Addison Allen, definitely takes you to a different world. Yet, it's still a familiar one--kind of like when you meet someone you swear could pass for an old friend. Maybe, it's because we recognize a world in Garden Spells we thought existed when we were children. There was a time as children when myths and legends were simply fact. We picked up pennies in order to have a lucky day because a rhyme told us we would. For the same reason, we avoided stepping on cracks, lest our mothers suffer back pain. Small towns have their own myths. Often times, these colloquial myths are believed in more strongly. Where I grew up, there was an abandoned two story house filled with old books. No one knew (or remembered, anyway) why this house was just left there in disarray. This was declared at some point as our town's haunted house. It's normal for myths to be created around that which cannot be explained. The real difference between our world and the world of Garden Spells is that in the book, those small town myths are real.

Suggestion Box #7: Jackie Earle Haley