So March is officially the start of summer blockbuster season
March was some month huh? Seriously though, 5 top notch movies were released and that’s kind of uncharted territory for such an early month of a new year. Things are changing in terms of the landscape of how movies are being distributed, with so many franchises, sequels, reboots and comic book movies, it’s hard for them to all be released in the April to August timeframe. Not saying that’s a bad thing, I enjoyed this past month of movie going, and I think we are in for a little bit a snooze-fest in April. The Fate of The Furious looks okay, but that’s honestly the one major release scheduled for April, so the theatre might go a little ligher on my wallet this next month. So in order here are the movies of March, from least favourite to favourite!
5.) Life
Alien meets Gravity! I’ve always been a fan of space movies, so I was excited when I heard Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds were going to be trapped on the International Space Station with an unknown alien life form. This movie was overly enjoyable until the ending which I found to be a major let down. Full of same old cliches that come with a movie like this, I was waiting for a curveball in this movie, but it never happened. Life ultimately failed to take any real chances to maybe try and reinvent this genre, and that was its downfall. I still had a good time with it, as it had a few scary and tense moments.
My Grade – 70/100
4.) Kong: Skull Island
Is that a monkey? Vietnam was a crazy time, now throw is a 100 foot ape into the mix, and now it’s a party! This movie kind of had it all, and I’ve actually come to like this movie the more I think about it. Maybe it was because I was like super hungry during it (I forgot to get popcorn!) and that just made me hangry and I took it out on poor Kong, but now when I think back on it, I actually really liked this movie! Kong was awesome, and that’s all you need in a movie called Kong: Skull Island. It’s by far the best Kong we’ve got on the big screen, and I’m excited to see where they take this character, and I’m awaiting the epic throw down between Godzilla and Kong. The only fault in the movie was that there were far too many human characters. Like too many to count, and at times that really took me out of the movie. But again whenever Kong was on screen I was hooked, and he was doing really cool shit, like punching stuff, punching more stuff and punching even more stuff. You get my point, I’ve renamed it, Kong: Skull Punch Island! John C. Reilly was a hero in this movie, and stole the show!
My Grade – 73/100
3.) Beauty & The Beast
One thing I took away from this, 3D movies suck! You have to keep your head so straight and cannot move it or you will lose focus and the screen will go blurry. That happened a lot watching Beauty & The Beast! Any who, the movie itself was fun, I had a blast going back in time almost to my childhood while I watched this. It had everything you could have wanted in a live adaptation of this beloved fairy tale. Emma Watson and Luke Evans were so incredible as Belle and Gaston, and I couldn’t believe how good they were at singing. Some of the songs felt a little monotoned but that was not a big deal at all. This movie did its job, it got me excited for future live adaptations of Disney properties, and I think that if this is the bar that is set for their future films, the future is extremely bright. Josh Gad as LeFou was the standout in this, the moment I saw that casting I knew he would be, so kudos to him!
My Grade – 82/100
2.) Power Rangers
Been waiting an awful long time for a motion picture Power Rangers movie, because I simply refuse to acknowledge the 90’s ones because they were just horrible. It’s been about a week now since I watched Power Rangers, and one thing that I took away was these kids actually did have attitude, and that they were kind of assholes? Well at least Trini, Jason and Kimberly, it was kind of weird, Jason is just a douche and I guess he is the most suitable leader of the bunch? Besides that, I really enjoyed this movie guys, I had a blast watching it, and again it was kind of everything I thought it would be. Perfect blend of new and old, and they did a bang up job casting the new rangers. Usually known to be super cheesy and campy, this time around we find ourselves dealing with a little darker tone, and touching on some serious issues teenagers are dealing with in today’s society. To best honest, my least favourite part of the movie was when they are in their Zords. I don’t know, it just didn’t really do it for me, and I wish we could have just got them being Power Rangers a little bit longer. Could have used another 5-7 minutes of them just kicking butt in their suits, instead of being in their Zords not doing a whole lot. Small problem, but I’m certainly excited to see where this franchise goes from here. Green Ranger time baby!
My Grade – 73/100
1.) Logan
The movie that was so nice, I saw it twice, in three days…..Some days I just stare off into space and think about this movie. Logan was just such a special movie for myself, and I know for many others. It was the perfect send off for Hugh Jackman, he gave us 17 years of being this character. That’s such a long time, it’s actually lunacy to think about it. He never complained, never quit on us and kept coming back to try and make a better movie for us fans. It’s super sad to see him go, but hopefully FOX will take some time to decide what the best approach is when it comes to recasting Wolverine. I can’t say enough good things about Logan, it had the perfect blend of great story telling, brutal violence and all around great performances. I will miss Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine, but all good things must come to an end, and there was no better way for him to go out. Logan entered my top 3 all time comic book movies, and I’m looking forward to watching it for years to come.
My Grade -97/100
So there you have it, my favourite 5 films of March! It was the best all around movie month in a long time, and I think I’m going to do this at the end of every month from here on out! Did I miss anything? What were your favourite movies of this past month? Let me know!
Fanboys unite, Marvel’s ex godfather is potentially jumping ship, and he’s being eyed to helm a Batgirl movie.
A news report from Variety today has Joss Whedon, former Marvel guru to produce, write and direct a Batgirl movie. This is just speculation right now, and it seems negotiations are underway for that to happen, and this is all around great news for fans of the DCEU. If this news happens to be true, is Joss Whedon the man who can save the DCEU? If so, what does this mean for the future landscape of Warner Bros. most prize possession? No stranger to comic book movies or strong female leads, I think Joss Whedon is just the man to tackle this iconic DC character.
Fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer know just how much Joss cares about strong female leads, and he certainly knows how to tell a good story, something that comic book movies may lack these days. With Wonder Woman fast approaching, I really dig how DC might be giving us another female led comic book franchise, something Marvel has yet to do. Barbara Gordon known as Batgirl, is the daughter of Commissioner Gordon and a trusty ally to Batman. She hasn’t been heard from since she was portrayed in Batman & Robin, and well that was just hot garbage. After his experiences with making Avengers: Age of Ultron, and how tiresome of an experience that was for him, maybe a lower stakes movie, with focusing on just one single character is just what Joss needs right now.
It will be interesting to see where they go with the character, in the comics she ultimately ends up becoming paralyzed by the Joker, and becomes Oracle, Batman’s eyes and ears of Gotham, and we don’t know her current state in the DCEU at this time. She’s a fantastic character, and a big part of the Bat family, and giving her a proper solo movie would be awesome to see. If this ends up happening, I’m sure casting rumors won’t be far behind, and personally I think Allison Williams (fresh off her on screen debut in Get Out) could be a really cool choice for the character. Something about her makes me believe she could pull of Batgirl, and do the character justice. Another casting choice would be Alexandra Daddario, she’s up and coming, and has been apart of a franchise before. I’m sure Emma Stone will be everyone’s first pick, but I just don’t see her being Batgirl, and she’s already been apart of comic book franchise, and that didn’t really work out too well for her. Warner Bros. has a tendency to eye directors and then scare them away, it happened just last fall. So here’s hoping this becomes reality, because Joss Whedon just might be the man to save the DCEU!
The Losers Club and Pennywise are back and it looks terrifying as hell
(Warner Bros.)
Boy does this trailer bring me back, to being scared shitless of clowns. The 90’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel IT is getting a makeover this year and the first official trailer has just dropped. Even the poster that was released yesterday is simply incredible, the way they hide Pennywise behind the balloon is really smart, and super creepy.
One thing is for certain this isn’t the 90s TV adaptation that’s for sure. This looks horrific, and I get a sense this time around Pennywise might not be cracking to many jokes. Tim Curry managed to blend comedy with horror perfectly when he suited up as the dancing clown back in the day and now Bill Skarsgard is on deck and from the little we got to see in the trailer, I think he’s going to make Tim proud.
This was a fantastic trailer, and what a movie trailer should be. They didn’t give away too much, teased us with Pennywise, he didn’t even have any lines of dialogue which I was kind of pissed about but understand why it was done. He looks so scary and the last 10 seconds of this trailer are straight up what nightmares are made of. They obviously had to change the look of Pennywise for this and the first pictures that were released were met with mixed reviews, well now seeing this in the flesh and in action I couldn’t be happier with it. All the kids in The Losers Club seem scared out of their minds, and the tagline “what are you afraid of?” is awesome, because Pennywise is known to bring out your worst fears and make them into a reality.
IT made my most anticipated list, and after watching this trailer a boatload of times I’m even more excited for the final product. Having a September release date makes me a little worried because that is usually a garbage month for movies after the long summer blockbuster season, but I will remain hopeful until its release. Looking forward to seeing some kids get straight up murdered, sorry not sorry for saying that, it will be bloody and grotesque and I can’t wait.
The Caped Crusader has one of the most impressive rogues galleries in all of comic books, so I thought I’d share my top ten favourite Batman villains
(Warner Bros)
In comic books the hero always needs a great villain to fight. It helps when they have multiple great villains to fight. When it comes to The Dark Knight, his rogues gallery is like no other. The collection of misfits and freaks the Batman goes toe to toe with on a nightly basis is just outstanding, and something that fans have always come to appreciate. In order for a hero to reach their true potential, they need an arch nemesis, someone who will test their limits, and someone who will ultimately bring out the best in our hero. I’ve loved Batman for as long as I can remember, and to be honest what separates him from other heroes is his rogues gallery. They are all so special and unique, and sometimes I find myself liking the bad guys more than the Caped Crusader himself. From the Batman movies, comic books and the beloved animated series from the 90’s, I’m going to go through my top ten Batman bad guys!
Honourable Mentions
Clayface
(Warner Bros)
“No. No! You broke my concentration. It won’t work. Don’t you see? It’s too hard. It’s like tensing a muscle. I can’t keep it up for long! MY CAREER, MY LIFE, IT IS GONE! AND I CAN NEVER GET IT BACK! I’M NOT AN ACTOR ANYMORE! I’m not even a… man.” – Clayface
The shape shifting clay guy! Things got pretty messy when Batman went toe to toe with Clayface, who first appeared in Detective Comics #40, in 1940! Throughout the years he has had many aliases but the one I know him for the most is Matt Hagen, an A-List Hollywood actor who was getting too old to be getting parts anymore. When a pharmaceutical company offers to help by offering him a new “aging cream” it soon consumes Hagen, and he turn into the blob you see in the picture above. All around cool villain, with his shape shifting abilities, he is able to turn into anyone or anything for that matter. So he was quite the handful for old Batsy to take on. He has two really fantastic episodes in Batman the Animated Series titled Feat of Clay!
Killer Croc
(Warner Bros)
“All my life people been screamin’… ever since I was a kid — just cuz I was born different… just cuz I look different, but lemme tell ya… you people ain’t no joy to look at neither!” – Killer Croc
Waylon Jones was born with a rare disease called atavism, which gave him reptile like features. From the moment he was born he was different from everyone else, and he’s always felt like an outsider. As he grew older so did the disease, and it consumed him. Turning him into half man half crocodile. He is one of Batman’s toughest opponents, and first appeared in Detective Comics #583 in 1983! Before turning to a life of crime, his backstory usually involves him being a side show at a circus or a pro-wrestler turned baddie.
Black Mask
(Warner Bros)
“Know that the mask destroys one identity while creating anoter. Know that the mask recreates its wearer. Know that, through the sublimation of personality, inhibitions die and the nature of the wearer is altered–so that deeper drives and more primitive instincts rise to the surface.” – Black Mask
Roman Sionis aka Black Mask, originally a business man who had a hatred for Bruce Wayne rather than his alter ego. Jealous of the life a young Bruce Wayne had, Roman also came from money, but his parents didn’t use it to help others like the Wayne’s, nor did they care for Roman like the Wayne’s cared for their son Bruce. Black Mask, then set his sights on the criminal underworld of Gotham, where he led the group known as the “False Facers,” he wears a black wooden mask to scare his enemies, much like the Batman himself. First appearing in 1985, Black Mask has been a worthy opponent of the Batman, and a few years ago, he appeared in the Batman: Arkham Origins video game and I thought that was a really great portrayal of the character.
10.) Penguin
(Warner Bros)
“I’m Cobblepot, you cretin. Do you think my parents named me “The Penguin”?” – The Penguin
Born Oswald Cobblepot, he is one of Batman’s many super villains, and was first introduced in 1941, in Detective Comics #58. Known for his love of ornithology, and trick umbrellas, that double as deadly weapons and fancy gadgets. Penguin is a criminal mastermind, who uses his club The Iceberg Lounge as a front for all the shady criminal dealings and other nefarious operations he is involved with. Usually a short, cubby, well dressed man, who was always seen sporting a tuxedo, monocle and top hat, the Penguin does have a sense of style. Usually surrounded by beautiful women, to remind people just how powerful a man he is, despite his grotesque appearance. Physically he is no match for Batman, but intellectually he can manipulate Batman, and their relationship isn’t as intense as with other villains. At the end of the day, Penguin is a businessman, not a killer, so Batman is usually stopping bad business deals, and making sure the Penguin is kept in check.
9.) Poison Ivy
(Warner Bros)
“You’re not my enemy, Batman. I used to think defeating you was my main objective in life. No. You’re merely a hindrance. My main goal now and forevermore will be a better world. If that means we cross swords, so be it, but… I’ve changed.” – Poison Ivy
Dr. Pamela Isley, she was once one of the most promising young botanist minds, when a horrible accident, which nearly killed her turned her into something evil. Poison Ivy was born, and it was that very accident that she acquired an immunity to all natural toxins and deadly diseases in the world. Introduced in 1966, in Batman #181, she has been around in the comics for over 50 years now. Obsessed with plant life, botany and environmentalism, she wanted to save the world, one plant at a time, but now she uses them as her most dangerous weapon. Using toxins from not only plants by her own poisonous bloodstream for criminal activities, and harming her enemies. Known to create love potions, those have been used on Batman, Robin and even Superman to help her with her schemes. She still wants to save all her precious plants and the environment but now she goes about doing it in a much more sinister and evil manner. Depicted in the comics as the most formidable eco-terrorist, her abilities make her a worthy advisory to Batman, and anyone else standing in her way. She has also been known to team up with Catwoman and Harley Quinn, in the comics and cartoons. We can all just try and forget her on screen performance in Batman & Robin, I know I have
8.) Hush
(Warner Bros)
“A master strategist would have killed me when he had the chance. It’s clear you lack the foresight… or the nerve. So I’m your prisoner. You know I’ll escape.” – Hush
One of Batman’s greatest enemies might also be one of his lesser known to casual Bat fans. That doesn’t mean this guy is a push over in any sense, making his debut in 2003, in Batman #609, Hush is both a physical threat, as well as a mental threat for our hero. Thomas Elliot was Bruce Wayne’s best friend growing up; they did everything together, as their parents ran in the same social circle. Growing up wealthy, much like Wayne, Tommy had it all, except for what Bruce valued the most, which was love and support from his mother and father. When Tommy’s failed plan to murder his parents backfired, due to Thomas Wayne’s incredible surgical skills, he then vowed to himself that he would seek revenge on Bruce, as he took it upon himself to blame Bruce for everything. When Thomas grew up, he became a masterful surgeon himself, and used those skills, to seek revenge on his once childhood friend. Wearing bandages to cover his face, he took on the persona of Hush, and in some cases he would take pieces of his murdered victims faces and use it to create a replica of Bruce Wayne’s face where he use it to not only destroy his reputation, but to lure out the Batman. He’s such an interesting villain and I hope we get to see him in the DCEU, maybe played by Ben’s real life best friend Matt Damon.
7.) Scarecrow
(Warner Bros)
“Do you know why you always catch us? It’s because we want to be caught.” – Scarecrow
The professor of fear himself Dr. Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow. Introduced in World’s Finest Comics #3 in 1941, Scarecrow remains one of Batman’s toughest mental challenges. Obsessed with fears and phobia’s, an ex professor of psychology at Gotham State University. He was experimenting on students in an unorthodox way and pushing the limits on these experiments, and soon was fired from the university. Using fear toxins to subdue is opponents, Scarecrow commits his crimes not for money but rather as a form of research, in his never ending quest to bring Gotham to its knees in the form of fear. Remains one of my favorite Batman villains to date, I wish he would get a proper onscreen representation. He was fine in the Nolan trilogy but it could be way cooler and much more scarier. His scarecrow appearance and lanky demeanor were inspired by the fable tale of Ichabod Crane in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
6.) Bane
(Warner Bros)
“I am Bane and I could kill you… but death would only end your agony and silence your shame. Instead, I will simply…BREAK YOU!” – Bane
The man who broke the Bats back. Bane is without doubt Batman’s greatest physical threat and in the comics one of my favorite villains to read. Seriously though this guy broke the goddamn Batman, and the only man to do so. The Knightfall comic story arc where this happens is simply incredible and a comic read for any nerd. Bane an escaped convict is a super-villain/assassin who gained his strength from an experiment gone wrong. He gains his powers by pumping “venom” into his veins which causes him to have increased size, strength and speed. Introduced in 1993, in Vengeance of Bane, he has been a formidable foe ever since. Not a whole lot is known about Bane’s background or even his true name, but not only does Bane possess immense power, but he is also one of Batman’s most intelligent bad guys. Even though, Bane is one of Batman’s greatest foes, he is also known to take down drug lords, and help fight crime as well. Recently he even took over the mantle as Batman, when the Caped Crusader was out of action, that didn’t work out well in the end for Bane. Loved Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, but would love to see a more comic book take on the character in the movies, he’s just not the same without the classic venom serum running through his veins.
5.) The Riddler
(Warner Bros)
“Life’s full of questions, isn’t it, Batman? Though, naturally, I prefer to think of them as riddles.” – The Riddler
Riddle me this, riddle me that, who’s afraid of the big black bat? The Riddler also known as Edward E. Nigma, is a without doubt Batman’s most intelligent foe, and that in the end is always his downfall. He first appeared in Detective Comics #140 in 1948, and is known for his signature purple domino mask and green question mark-covered costume, that varies in appearance. It can either be in the form of a skintight cat suit or what I prefer a business suit, with a bowler hat and his special question mark shaped cane, that usually doubles as some sort of weapon. Ever since he was little The Riddler has been obsessed with puzzles, games, word games and most importantly riddles. When he does commit a crime he usually leaves behinds clues for the police and Batman, solving them usually lead straight to him or help them solve the case. Always complex, but the Batman has never been stumped by The Riddler, and with his obsessive compulsion to ask riddles, having them constantly solved by the Dark Knight, drives him ever more insane. Again, The Riddler is a troubled person, who commits crimes because of his obsession, and does not do so for money or to kill, but rather because he cannot help himself. Recently the Batman comics had a really good Riddler run, and it made me realize how much I love this villain. Early on, Riddler was a campy villain, but in recent years has shifted towards a more darker tone, which somewhat suits the character more. There was a Riddler easter egg in Batman v. Superman, so I would love for him to be introduced into the DCEU, and my personal casting choice would either be Jim Parsons or Eddie Redmayne, I think he could do a really good job.
4.) Two Face
(Warner Bros)
“Why are we doing this? Because we are now two faces. One good, the other bad. Half-and-half. Fifty fifty. Opposite and equal. And we’re deadlocked. When that happens… we let the coin decide.” – Two Face
Two Face has one of the saddest stories in all of Batman lure. Harvey Dent once the promising young DA of Gotham, and best friend to Bruce Wayne, he had everything going for him. Serving as one of Batman’s greatest allies before the horrible accident, where mob boss Sal Maroni threw acid in his face, scarring him for life. That was just the beginning, see Harvey suffers from split personality disorder, and once his face was burned it unleashed the bad side in Harvey, and from there Two Face was created. Two Face, obsessed with duality and the number two, relies on the flip of his good luck coin to make all his decisions for him. Everything he does is calculated, and relies solely on luck, he doesn’t make any decisions without flipping his coin first, and this is always his biggest flaw. Introduced in 1946 in Detective Comics #66, Two Face has been on the big screen twice and is a prominent figure in the comics today. Batman, feeling for his old friend is always trying to help save Harvey, and to try and cure him of his disease, but Two Face is always set on is fixation with chance and his lucky coin and his crimes are always planned and schemed in design of these fixations. Growing up I loved Two Face in the animated series, I thought his character design was so cool, and I was so excited for him to be on the big screen. It just never really panned out the way I wanted it to. Also if Two Face enters the DCEU and it’s not Jon Hamm, we riot!!
3.) Ra’s al Ghul
(Warner Bros)
“Welcome home, Bruce Wayne — or shall I address you as the Batman?” – Ra’s al Ghul
No no, they just didn’t make this guy up for Liam Neeson to play in Batman Begins, he’s actually been around for a long time. 1971 to be exact, in Batman #232, Ra’s al Ghul is Arabic for “The Demons Head,” and he is one of Batman’s greatest enemies, and he has great admiration for The Worlds Greatest Detective. Little is known about his background, as it varies, but one thing is certain, he is very old. You see Ra’s is immortal, due to his use of the “Lazarus Pit” which turns the dying into new life. These pits have helped him live for hundreds of years. He wants to conquer the world, and his ideal perfect world is one that is in environmental balance. He wants to rid the world of most of humanity seeing how he believes this is how he can achieve his ultimate goal. He considers Batman to be his worthiest opponent and at times as asked him to be his successor, seeing how he wants to leave this world, because he has lived for so long, but Batman does not share the same beliefs, so they have a serious conflict. His biggest achievement is deducing that the Batman is in fact Bruce Wayne, something that very little criminals have been able to achieve. Sworn enemies, but things get complicated between the two, due to Bruce’s love for his daughter Talia. She shares the same beliefs as her father, but she is also madly in love with Bruce Wayne, and they end up having a child together Damian Wayne, who ends up becoming the forth Robin.
2.) Mr. Freeze
(Warner Bros)
“Have you ever seen a flower die? Watched something that was once so beautiful, so full of life, collapse and rot from within”. – Mr. Freeze.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know this guy, really? Arnold really screwed this incredible character over after Batman & Robin. Just look at that photo! Mr. Freeze is in my all time top 5 comic book characters, I think he is such an interesting person. There is no other Batman character I want to see more in the DCEU than this guy, I think they could just do this character the justice he deserves. Since Patrick Stewart is done with Professor X, how about he jumps ship and comes over to WB to play Mr. Freeze for us. Go back, and watch Heart of Ice, an episode of the animated Batman series, and you’ll see and finally understand that this guy is more than just a meathead who talks only talks in ice puns. You got to go all the way back to 1959, in Batman #121 when he first appeared in comics. Victor Fries, once an accomplished cryogenicist, he was on a mission in life to save his wife Nora who was stricken with a rare disease. Growing up Victor used to freeze animals so he could study them and preserve their life, so he decided to do the same with Nora, freezing her until he could fine a cure for her disease. Everything was going fine, until the lab he was working at found out and shut it down, and when a struggle ensued, it caused Victor to be transformed into a cold-blooded human that must always be kept at a subzero temperature in order for him to survive. When he turned cold, so did his heart, and he is no longer able to feel any emotion, which makes him a deadly and complicated villain. Wearing a kick-ass cryogenic suit, that keeps his body cold as ice, and wielding powerful freezing weapons is a formidable foe for Batman. Again driven by the obsession to save his wife, he stops at nothing to find the cure for her so they can be reunited once more, and no one, not even Batman will stand in his way. You always feel for Mr. Freeze, because he just wanted to save his wife, and now he’s a monster, and the comics and animated series really make you feel for his character. I just think he’s just Batman’s coolest villain, and I just wish they wouldn’t have screwed it up back in the 90’s.
1.) The Joker
(Warner Bros)
“All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once. Am I right? You had a bad day and everything changed.” – The Joker
The Clown Prince of Crime himself, The Joker comes in at number one (duhhhh). Introduced in the first ever Batman comic, Batman #1 in 1940, he is Batman’s greatest foe and his archenemy. Honestly what can I say about this guy? He’s one of literatures greatest characters, a dead guy won an Oscar for portraying him (RIP Heath), and he’s the classic ying, to Batman’s yang. Origin mostly unknown, name is also unknown. See that’s the brilliant thing about The Joker, you don’t know anything about him, a few things here and there have been talked about in the past, but for the most part he is a mystery. That’s the coolest thing about this guy; he has no super powers, nothing. He is simply bat-shit crazy; he’s the opposite of Batman in almost every way. Yet they are destined to be together, to always come toe-to-toe with one another, because at the end of the day, neither one of them can bring themselves to kill the other. There have been so many great Joker stories; it’s hard to even count, from comics, to the movies, hell to even the Arkham video games. Recently in the comics he cut his own goddamn face off, it was an incredible comic book run in the New 52, and that’s the thing, there will always be amazing Joker stories to tell. The guy dresses up like a clown, and wrecks havoc on Gotham, that’s about it. He’s insane in the membrane, he loves to terrorize Gotham and he loves to get his ass kicked by Batman. It’s hard to even talk about the guy because I don’t even know where to start, I almost like The Joker, more than I like Batman. He’s the greatest comic book villain ever; I wish we got to see Heath portray him once more, easily one of movies biggest what-ifs. He’s killed a Robin (Jason Todd), he’s paralyzed Barbara Gordon, he’s done some horrible shit and to me it’s incredible that still to this day, Batman has never killed him in the comics. It’s implied somewhat in The Killing Joke, arguably the greatest Joker story every told, the last few frames of the book show Batman potentially strangling Joker to death, after he makes Batman laugh after telling him a funny joke. I’m really curious to see where they take Jared Leto’s Joker in the DECU, because I love Batflecks portrayal and he needs to be in a scene with The Joker, and I didn’t mind his performance in Suicide Squad, but he just wasn’t in it enough for me to get a full grasp on it. I’d like to see him play The Joker again, because he needs to be a part of this universe, so we will see where they go with that. Meanwhile do yourself a favor, Google top Joker stories, and go pick one out and read it, I swear you won’t be disappointed.
So there you have it, my list of my favorite Batman villains. Did I miss anyone? Was I too high on certain ones? Let me know!
Okay, so in last years Captain America: Civil War, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man was no doubt the standout of the movie, bringing new light on the classic character. Now a year later he’s getting his own solo flick, and things are looking up for the web crawler. Being a big fan of the character, I loved the original two Spider-Man movies and I don’t like talking about the steaming pile of crap that was Spider-Man 3. Quick rant, when it was released the world did not have pre order tickets you had to go to the theatre early to make sure you got a seat, so being the loser I was I showed up at 7 for the midnight showing. I waited 5 hours for the movie to start and I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed with a movie in my entire life. I also had a math test the next day, which I ended up failing. Thanks for nothing Tobey.
Anyone else feel like they just watching the condensed version of the movie? Boy did they show us an awful lot in this trailer, kind of the exact opposite of the Justice League trailer that dropped a few days ago. Like I understand that Spider-Man is now apart of the MCU, but you don’t really need to try and shovel that down our throats in the trailer. Did they really find it necessary to show us every Tony Stark scene, and just how involved he is going to be in the actual movie? I wish they held back on this stuff, it would have been a nice surprise to see just how much Tony was going to be part of the story, and not see him in the entire trailer. This honestly felt like Iron Man 4, rather than Spidey’s first rodeo.
Saying all that, I did enjoy the trailer, actually way more than the last one to be honest. I don’t know what it is, but I’m not that excited for this movie. Maybe it’s because there hasn’t been a good solo Spider-Man film in almost 15 years, so you have to take this with a little grain of salt. Tom Holland is the perfect Peter Parker/Spider-Man, so there’s hope for this movie, but I feel like Marvel will just use the same cookie cutter formula that has been used for the last dozen Marvel solo movies. Michael Keaton looks awesome as the villain Vulture, maybe this will finally be the breakout Marvel villain that fans have been waiting for. He’s been on a serious role lately, and I hope it can continue in this. There were a ton of awesome moments, but again maybe they showed a little too much. The boat scene especially, that seems to be the half waypoint of the movie, the second action set piece, and I feel like we just saw the whole thing. The Tony/Peter dynamic looks great, it feels like this movie will represent the whole “with great power, comes great responsibility,” with Tony replacing the Uncle Ben character.
Overall I thought this was a great trailer, I just think they showed us a little too much, and they really don’t need to sell the audience on this movie. Spider-Man is huge and they are throwing their trump card into the mix with Iron Man being involved. Marvel really doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to their movies, so this will no doubt be a massive success. With them showing us so much, the one thing they didn’t show us at all was Donald Glover in this trailer and that was a huge let down! I’m excited to see what he brings to this movie, and I just wish they would have teased us a little bit with his character!
Seeing how this is only the second trailer, we will get one final trailer before the movie hits theatres in July, and I hope they don’t give away too much more. Movies these days tend to give away way too much in trailers now a days, and I think this trailer represents that. Spider-Man is a fantastic character that deserves a great solo flick, something fans haven’t been able to experience in a long time. So here’s to hoping Spider-Man: Homecoming is a success.
Nobody and I mean nobody drops better angry F-Bombs than Ryan Reynolds
(Sony Pictures)
In space no one can hear you scream, and in Life there was a boatload of screaming to be had. Space movies always remind me of one thing; space is scary as hell! Especially when you are trapped on the International Space Station with a newly discovered alien life form.
So aboard the International Space Station is a multinational six-member crew that is comprised of some of the brightest minds on Earth. They intercept an incoming space probe that is returning from a successful trip from Mars. They collect a soil sample, where the crew is tasked to study it, which could ultimately end up being the first evidence of life outside of Earth. The crew quickly discover that not only is this the first sign of life, but that it is “all muscle, all brain and all eye,” which sounds scary as shit if you ask me. After the organism evolves, it is given a name, Calvin, after a school in America. Calvin quickly becomes more evolved and smarter as the day’s pass, and the crew slowly begins to realize, that they might have bitten off more than they can chew. As they find themselves in a fight for their lives, they must work together to stop Calvin from reaching Earth. As they’re picked off one by one, Calvin not only evolves, it gets smarter and smarter, and the crew realizes that maybe they should have left this creature back on Mars, where it belongs.
The crew itself is comprised of an American senior medical officer, David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has been in space for the longest period of time in human history, with just over 430 days served in space. David mostly keeps to himself, remaining quite, but when push comes to shove we find him becoming a little more of a badass. Dr. Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson), she serves as the British Quarantine Officer, and the captain of this mission. She is in charge of the “firewall protocols” which serve as the safety plans in case anything goes wrong onboard the space station. She knows more information than the crew does, and keeps a few secrets from them as well. Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds) the American pilot of the space station is the crews class clown, and leader of the group. Ryan Reynolds was probably the standout of the movie for me, providing us with the best scene of the movie that’s for sure. As usual, he’s a wise cracking, know-it-all something we have become accustom too in his movies. Not saying that’s a bad thing, I actually really liked his performance in Life, it was nice to see him branch out a little bit. The Japanese systems engineer Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada), the strong but silent type. Who just wants to get home so he can see his newly born daughter. The Russian commander of the mission, Katerina Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya) willing to step up and take charge when need be, a strong woman who’s not afraid of a little perseverance. Finally we have the crew’s biologist, a British man Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) who is the most excited about the specimen on board and wants nothing more than to study it and make the human population proud. Remember this is a movie that takes place in space with a alien, these people are going to be disposable, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t start to care for them, and root for them to win. People are going to die in a movie like this, it’s just the nature of films like this. Life borrows a lot of elements from the original Alien movie, the movie that redefined the genre of science-fiction. I’m a huge Gyllenhaal fan, and I thought that he didn’t really have a whole lot to do in this, I felt that he was very underused in the first 2/3 of Life which was kind of a let down. He’s a great actor and I wish the director would have given him more to do. It felt like they just didn’t know what to do with his character at times, and being the lead of the movie it felt out of place at times. Speaking of the director, it’s Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) and he was almost the star of the movie. This is on the edge of your seat kind of suspense, with great tense moments, along with some really scary situations. Daniel did a fantastic job bringing all this together and create one hell of a landscape for the movie. This movie has some really intense moments where I was even almost looking away (I’m a baby) but when a movie can do that, it’s doing its job. Taking place only on the space station, Daniel does a great job shooting the movie very confined and tight, which makes for an even more enjoyable movie watching experience.
Life is a slow-burn, which means it takes awhile to get going and it takes its time for things to come together, but in the end it usually pays off. My biggest gripe for the movie was I wasn’t a fan of the ending. As the movie was winding down, I knew it only had a few outcomes to showcase, and I just wasn’t a fan of how things wrapped up, and it was an ending that didn’t really answer all the questions. Leaving the audience with a lot of “what ifs” and seeing how I don’t think Life will be getting a sequel that can be very frustrating for the movie goer. I’m not saying I knew from the beginning how the movie was going to end, but you could see all the twists of the movie happening before they actually did. Nothing ever really shocked me in Life, so I just wish they maybe threw one more curve ball at us, or maybe just didn’t follow the exact cookie cutter formula that most of these space movies follow. That doesn’t mean this is a bad movie by any means, or that I liked it less, it just means that you know what’s going to happen next before it actually happens in the movie. You spend two hours investing your time into the movie and sometimes you just want to be rewarded at the end of it, and not left scratching your head about possible outcomes or what kind of message the filmmaker is trying to get across.
Life is not a game changer by any means for the genre, but it does some things really well. This a good science-fiction horror/thriller, that people should go out and see. If you’re a fan of these kinds of flicks, then you won’t be disappointed in the outcome. Like I said it has some good performances, enough scares, and tense moments to have you on the edge of your seat in certain moments, and I thought Calvin was a pretty cool alien. It was different to see something that wasn’t so terrifying looking, as say some other monster movies, but it didn’t need to look scary, to show the audience just how much damage it could possibly inflict on the human population. I just know if they keep making movies like this I will never find myself going on a space vacation in the year 2050.
So that was awesome right! Today is a tough day for me, well for most of us. It’s the one year anniversary of the release of Batman v. Superman, and obviously that movie wasn’t met with the greatest praise from fans or critics. But a lot can change in a year and here we are exactly one year later and Zack Snyder, that dirty dog drops this badass trailer for us to see. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m extremely nervous for the Justice League movie, the DCEU hasn’t really gotten off to a flying start, well they really haven’t even gotten off the ground yet. But that could all change with one simple trailer. I was absolutely blown away by this trailer, and maybe things could finally be turning around for Warner Bros. and the DCEU!
Now for the trailer itself, they did a fantastic job giving us fans a little bit of everything here. You can’t expect them to change their formula completely so the darker tone is still present in the trailer, but that’s okay because it does seem a little bit lighter and certainly more fun and humorous. It’s a great thing that they are clearly addressing certain problems from previous films and taking the fans and what they not only have to say, but what they want to heart. Ezra Miller who will be suiting up as the fastest man alive, The Flash, looks like the comedy pillar of the movie, and not only does it suit the character, he seems to be pulling it off with ease. Even Ben Affleck’s Batman looks like he’s having a lot more fun in this trailer, yeah we don’t need our Batman to be cracking jokes every scene, but a little light hearted Caped Crusader will go along way for fan service.
Ray Fisher the new comer who’s playing the football star turned half-man half-machine Cyborg looks pretty damn cool if I say so myself. He’s such a lesser known character but being the nerd I am, I know him for the badass character he truly is. He acts as a pseudo leader of the group and takes control usually when Batman isn’t around. I’m excited for the world to see this character come to life because he simply is awesome. Gal Gadot again looks great as Wonder Woman and the more I see her portray this character the more I like her. Time will tell, when her solo movie hits theatres June 3rd. She’s the strong and powerful female superhero this world needs, because right now there aren’t too many of those in the movies.
Now let’s chat about the stand out of the trailer, Mr. Jason Momoa himself who’s playing the King of Atlantis Aquaman. For myself, the fish talking, trident wielding, hero is my second favourite in all of comics. He’s never taken seriously because of some old school jokes that are made, but this guy knows how to throw down, and it shows in the trailer. He’s just such a cool character with great mythology and backstory and he’s got insane powers, and I can’t wait to finally see him on the big screen come November.
I had to watch this trailer twice, on my phone and I was still blown away and that’s not even me going through it with a fine tooth comb to find every little Easter egg and timbit that’s probably inside. The Parademons, those flying bug like creatures look so cool, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the League squash them. This is just a teaser too, so they didn’t really given away anything important plot wise, just little snip-its here and there. Aquaman and Batman look to have a serious bromance going on, and that will be a sweet dynamic to see. My two favourite superheroes best friends in the Justice League movie, brings tears to my eyes. Batman is also looking like a somewhat of a father figure for The Flash which is also neat, so I’m looking forward to going home and putting this bad boy up on my Apple TV, and watching it over and over again. November can’t get here soon enough.
“Different colours, different kids, different colour kids” – Alpha 5
“A group of high-school students, who are infused with unique superpowers, harness their abilities in order to save the world”
When I did my most anticipated movie list of 2017, this rolled out to be number 9 on that list. So here we are 24 years after The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers debut on Fox, and it’s been 20 years since the last feature length film hit theatres. Well colour me surprised, because Saban’s Power Rangers was actually pretty fantastic, for being a Power Rangers movie. This had all the makings of being a terrible movie, a young and unknown new cast of Rangers, an up and coming new director, and well to be honest the source material is was a cheesy afternoon kids show. But despite all of that, they really pulled it off; they took these characters in a kind of new and bold direction, while staying extremely faithful to the source material of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Nostalgia alone was putting me in a seat opening night, from playing the awesome SNES games, watching the actual show, to playing with all the Zord toys growing up, I wasn’t missing this movie. Power Rangers might have a hard time pinning down its target audience, but if you have little kids expect to see this movie in the upcoming weeks, and if you’re like me and loved the original stuff growing up in the 90’s you might find yourself dipping into your local theatre to see it!
Back in 1993 when Mighty Morphin Power Rangers first aired, there were 5 rangers: red (Jason), yellow (Trini), black (Zack), blue (Billy) and pink (Kimberly). Sprinkle in a little white and green sometimes, and that was the team. They followed suit for the reboot, and we found Jason (Dacre Montgomery), Zack (Ludi Lin), Trini (Becky G), Kimberly (Naomi Scott) and Billy (RJ Cyler) all living in Angel Groove, attending the same high school, where they all seemed to be “outcasts” or “outsiders”. Jason, the star quarterback turned felon, as he crashes his car in a prank gone wrong as our movie opens. The popular cheerleader, who is sick and tired of being popular, Kimberly, as she sheds most of her hair from the very first moment we see her. Zack, the crazy guy in school, well when he attends school that is. Tough on the outside, but a kind hearted kid on the inside, as he finds himself taking care of his sick mother everyday, and doesn’t know what he will do when she’s gone, because she’s all he’s got. Trini, the new girl in school, who is very much an outsider, who rarely speaks, and is afraid to let people in, because she’s afraid of what they might think of her. See Trini is the first openly gay Power Ranger, and she is having a tough time expressing herself to her parents and her peers. Finally there’s Billy, who is “on the spectrum” and is very outspoken, and the kindest of our Rangers. Bullied in school for being different, he bonds immediately with Jason when they find themselves serving Saturday detention together, along with Kimberly, Breakfast Club style. Now lets address the elephant in the room, which involves race with the Power Rangers. Back in the day, the Black Ranger was black and the Yellow Ranger was Asian, and that used to be a very common joke that was made about the series. They did the old switcheroo for this having Billy who is black be the Blue Ranger, and Zack who is Asian be the Black Ranger. I enjoyed how the movie clearly went out of its own way to make off-color jokes about the diversity of itself, and Zack and Billy have a great little exchange about them each being the Blue and Black Ranger respectfully. Race, culture and being different is a big part of this movie, and they were all chosen to be the Power Rangers for that very reason, the power coins, which give them their powers ultimately choose them because they are kids “of different colour.” These kids don’t know each other at all, they are all different in more ways than one, but it’s one fateful night, that they all happened to be in the exact same spot, when Billy decides to blow up some of the gold mine in town and they all discover weird and mysterious coloured coins. It’s not until the next morning that they all now possess super human abilities like strength and speed and they are determined to discover what really is going on. From there they discover a “space ship” buried deep underground and it’s there that they meet Alpha 5 (voiced by Bill Hader) and Zordon (Bryan Cranston) the leader and voice of reason for the group. I thought Hader was great as the zanny robot Alpha 5, and brought a lot of humor to the role. He was just so cheesy in the 90’s show, but we didn’t really get that vibe from him in this movie. Zordon a former Red Ranger from the Cenozoic Era sacrificed himself so he could protect the power coins from the evil Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks).
You can’t make a Power Rangers movie and not have Rita Repulsa in it; they go together like Mac & Cheese. She’s eating donuts, cackling, doing drugs, eating jewelry, and overacting at times with a hint of cheese, but that comes with the territory. Remember the source material, and how corny and cheesy this woman used to be. Overreacting to everything, howling and screaming “MAKE MY MONSTER GROW” any chance she got, actually she does utter those words in this, but it was pulled off super well. She’s being the overzealous, cranky, bitch of a woman that we all knew and loved to hate back in the 90’s. Banks really went all in for this role, and in the end it worked out great for everyone. We needed a performance like this for Rita to remind us all just exactly what we are watching, and how fun and campy this fundamentally used to be. As for her pet monster Goldar, I thought he was just okay, too much CGI, and it all just felt a little rushed towards the end, but this certainly won’t be the last time we see Rita, and that’s a good thing for everyone. All 5 of these kids were really acting their asses off in this movie; they all deserve a boatload of credit for that. This movie hinges on them and them alone, and their collective performances as our coloured superheroes. These are some young and talented kids, and that’s a great thing for this franchise, I didn’t know what to expect from each of them, but they all brought it, in their own unique and different way. Standouts though were, RJ Cyler, who actually was really good in Me Earl and The Dying Girl, and once I saw he was casted in this I knew that was a good thing. He was throwing out one-liners and catch phrases all movie long, and was just so natural in his role. I thought Ludi Lin was great as Zack also, he played the super confident tough guy, with a softer side no one is able to see role really well. I just thought he was really funny, and I don’t know, I just felt like I connected with him the most throughout the movie. Naomi Scott was great too, but I knew that she would be, because well she’s British and they just know how to act. Same with Dacre actually, both super British but you would never tell from the way they speak in this, he was also fantastic as the leader Jason. Hell even Becky G, as she kind of mopped and had sad face throughout the entire movie, did a wonderful job. They just did an excellent job at casting this movie, which to be honest was the most important thing for this movie franchise to be successful.
The darker, grittier more grownup take made for a more enjoyable experience for myself, and actually they throw two masturbation jokes at you that come out of nowhere which I thought was hilarious. Zack refers to it as ‘morphin” which played well with the crowd. But it wasn’t always taking itself so serious, the last 25 minutes where we finally get to see our new Rangers in their coloured suits, really paid homage to its predecessor, where the first two-thirds of this movie was very teenage drama, it was practically The Breakfast Club with superpowers. Not saying that’s a bad thing, in fact it would have been great if Billy wrote the detention essay stating who they really were, all while we see Jason on the football field giving that signature Judd Nelson fist-pump! When it comes down to it, I had a good time watching this; it’s been a really long time, since I heard “Go Go Power Rangers” and it got me fired up. It’s a fun time at the movies, and it was entertaining as hell. I personally think the weakest part of the movie was the last little bit, which was all the action stuff, the director Dean Israelite doesn’t shoot the best action sequences, and I think that if they can improve on that stuff for the sequel and still have the same effort from the kids, this could really go somewhere. The first two acts of this movie are really solid, and it does take awhile to get into the swing of things, but that’s to be expected in an origin story. These kids need to come together as a team and sort through not just their own problems, but also the problems of trusting new people and what it means to be part of a team. All the teen drama stuff worked, and each ranger having their own set of difficulties and personal issues felt real, because we live in a world now where no one is perfect, and most of the time people are dealing with issues that they don’t want to talk about. I thought the movie did a really good job exploring that and showing how it’s okay to be different and it’s okay to be who you want to be in this world. There’s plenty of callbacks and fan service throughout the movie that will please those life long fans, and it’s not forced down your throat, but you know it’s there. Some nice little cameos, and there’s a post credit scene, that you knew was coming, but it will get people excited for what’s to come. This was the perfect way to kick start this franchise again, and I’m really rooting for this movie to do well at the box-office this weekend, these kids deserve it.
Check ya later,
Nate’s Movie Tour Reviews — Power Rangers = 73/100
What I learned from Beauty & The Beast. Want a smokin’ hot princess? Just own a lot of books!
A tale as old as time! One of films greatest love stories, about a girl who chooses one overbearing, self-absorbed, violent jerk of a man for another overbearing, self-absorbed, violet jerk of a man…..wait what? Disney’s Beauty & The Beast finally gets an updated live action version, after hits with Cinderella and The Jungle Book. The world has been patiently waiting for its release, and with a 170 million record setting box office weekend, live action Disney movies are here to stay! Growing up the animated version was one of my favorite movies, I loved everything about it, the music, the characters, the message, it was one of a kind, so going into this movie I was a little skeptical of the outcome. Well after watching it, I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised with the result.
Everyone knows the tale, Belle (Emma Watson) the beautiful, smart, kindhearted girl who wants more out of life, trying to figure out where she belongs in the world. The Beast (Dan Stevens) the Prince who gets cursed for having a cold heart, and believing that it’s what’s on the outside that counts, living alone in his castle with his servants who have also been cursed. It’s not until he can love and be loved that this curse will be broken, and he has to accomplish this before the last peddle falls off his magical rose. You know that old chestnut. Here’s the thing, one of my concerns with them adapting this into a live action movie was the time. The 1991 animated movie clocks in at 84 minutes where this version has a run time of 129 minutes. That’s an additional 45 new minutes added to this tale, and I didn’t know how they would be able to stretch this story out that long. Well let me tell you, it worked; I didn’t think this movie was too long or some of the new elements added took away anything from the old version. Obviously things needed to be added to add substance and more backstory for our characters, and at the end of it, I thought it was pulled off extremely well. One thing I was a little worried about, was Dan Stevens playing Beast, I thought it might be a little blah, but he turned out great, and actually brought a lot of personality to the character, and was even dropping jokes at certain points.
Let’s talk about some of the good stuff in this movie. The music is excellent, I didn’t know Emma Watson had bars like that. She was already perfect and now she can sing, some people are just special; she was fantastic as our princess Belle. At times it was like I was looking at the animated Belle being ripped from the 1991 version. She portrayed the fearless, but kindhearted bookworm we all fell in love with when we were young. I don’t want to say she was born to play this role, but it was certainly a match made in heaven. I don’t think too many other A-List actresses could have pulled this off like Emma did. Luke Evans on the other hand, man was he born to play Gaston. Again who knew he could sing like that. From his muscles (when he lifted a girl and Josh Gad onto his shoulders, I thought that was super impressive) to his spitting ability he nailed Gaston to a tee. He played the smug, jackass kind of a guy to perfection, who will stop at nothing in order for Belle to be his beloved bride. One thing I would have liked a little bit more with Gaston was his death (spoiler, but if you don’t already know that, I don’t know what to say), it just felt kind of stupid and I was really hoping it would have been the same as in the animated version, oh well just a little nitpick. Gaston would be nothing without his best mate LeFou, his trusty old sidekick who underwent the biggest transformation in the live action version. Congrats to Disney for having its first ever gay character! That’s pretty awesome, and honestly it’s about time that Disney did something like this. LeFou has the hots for Gaston in this, but it’s very subtle and I thought it was really heartfelt and hilarious how they pulled it off. His character also undergoes another big change and he becomes a good guy in the end, which I was kind of pissed about, but seeing where he ends up it made sense for the story. You see in this movie there are two beauty and the beast tales. You have Belle and The Beast, where Belle falls for him because of not what he looks like on the outside, a monster, but rather she falls in love with his heart. His kind, and gentle heart, he just wants someone to understand him, and see passed his monstrous looks. Whereas there’s the LeFou and Gaston arc, where LeFou loves Gaston for what he looks like on the outside, but once he sees who he truly is on the inside, he has a heart of a monster. He understands it’s what’s on the inside that counts, That was a new aspect added to the movie, the perfect muscle man has the heart of a monster, yet the actual Beast has the heart of a soft spoken guy. So during the epic battle at the end, LeFou decides it’s time to change sides and helps Belle and the castle fight back against Gaston and the villagers. So Josh Gad really did a bang up job bringing this character to life, his comedic timing in this was prince less.
Talking teacups, clocks and candlesticks in live action wasn’t as strange as I thought it would be. Props to Ewan McGregor for having the worst French accent known to mankind who voices Lumiere, it really took me out of the movie at certain points, because I just thought it was that bad. Like why hire a person who can’t do a French accent to voice a guy who has a French accent? So he almost ruined the movie going experience, and that might be my only problem with the movie. All the other voice actors are fine in this; Ian McKellen was the standout as Cogsworth! There are a lot of familiar faces throughout, I’m not going to mention anymore names, because it was fun trying to figure out who was who, and the reveal at the end when they all become human was fun. Actually another small issue was The Beast himself; I don’t understand why he was CGI sometimes. Practical effects work best, and again it took me out of the movie. During the most iconic scene, when Belle and Beast are dancing, I knew in my head she might just be dancing with a broomstick. So really wishing they just went full practical effects for the Beast, but other than that, the movie is pretty much flawless!
All the music in this is incredible, they added a few new songs into the mix, and they worked really well! The costumes are Oscar worthy, actually I’m saying it now, and this might win best costume design at next years Oscars. If I’m Emma Stone I’m asking to keep the famous yellow dress, and actually I’m probably wearing it to the Oscars next year, wouldn’t that be a hoot. The costumes are right from the original and made the movie feel that much more authentic. It made the characters come to life, especially Belle, LeFou and Gaston. All around, with the new elements added, the added story makes for an enjoyable movie going experience. It was a tough task to bring this classic fairy tale to life, but I thought the director Bill Condon did a marvelous job, and he should be extremely proud of the final product. If this is the standard for live action Disney properties, then I’m really excited for certain future movies, because the bar has been set pretty high, and I have a feeling the next movie will want to top this. Disney has really found something special in adapting their properties into live action and I can’t wait to see what they do next. Be my guest to give this review a thumbs up!
Check ya later,
Nate’s Movie Tour Reviews — Beauty & The Beast = 82/100
I’ve decided I’m going to write a weekly review on some of my favorite movies and I’m starting this list off with a movie that some days I consider to be my favorite movie of all time. It’s a weird/tough question to answer, what is your favorite movie? What does that even mean? The movie you have watched the most in your life? The movie you know the most quotes too? Is it simply the movie you enjoy watching the most? Well if so, rthe answer to all three of those questions is Ghostbusters. It came out 4 years before I was even born, it came out shortly after Michael Jordan was drafted to the NBA, this movie is super old, but it has and will always stand the test of time. Regarded as one of the greatest comedies of all time, to me this movie is can summed up in two words, almost perfect.
To this day I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen this movie, earlier this year AMC decided to air Ghostbusters everyday. (Thank you AMC). Regardless of which part the movie was at, I found myself immediately sucked into the Ghostbusters vortex and couldn’t get out. Ghostbusters is kind of like my sunken place (Get Out reference). There’s just something about this movie that I find truly magical, maybe it’s because I owned the Ghostbusters Firehouse growing up as a kid, and still have my Stay Puff Marshmallow Man toy, or maybe because I just think it’s such an incredible concept for a movie, that I can’t help but love it. Ghostbusters just holds a really special place in my heart, and it will be a movie that I know I will enjoy until the day I die, so I thought it was only fitting that I wrote a review for it.
You have to know the run down by now, Peter (Bill Murray), Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and Egon (Harold Ramis) all of whom are paranormal experts, but once their university grants dry up, it’s time for them to go into business for themselves. It’s up to them to protect the city of Manhattan from all things ghosts, before the all-powerful Gozer destroys it. Calling themselves The Ghostbusters, word spreads around town quickly and they soon become the talk of the country, as the city begins to become overrun with ghosts and they are the only ones who can stop it. They don’t do it alone; they bring in Winston (Ernie Hudson) of course after their plate gets a little too full. Let’s be clear, this is Bill Murray’s movie, the guy is a living legend and this is up there for one of his greatest roles. He has so many incredible one-liners in Ghostbusters, and the comedy is so natural. It doesn’t try to be funny it just is, something that a lot of comedies have a hard time doing today. The laughs are so subtle that if you’re not paying much attention it’s really easy to over look some hilarious stuff. Ghostbusters was written by two of its stars, Aykroyd and Ramis and honestly they are gods for it. This is such a unique and original idea, that I can’t even fathom ever coming up with an idea like this. It started off with Aykroyd and John Belushi writing a script for the movie, but when Belushi suddenly passed away, Ramis stepped in and helped him rewrite the movie, to become what we know now as The Ghostbusters. Not only did these two guys write the thing, they also were superb in it, the three of them are comedy legends, and it was really sad that Harold Ramis died before the 2016 version came out, because I wish he could have been apart of all the celebrations and reunions because he deserved to be there just as much as anybody else. Once Peter’s girlfriend Dana (Sigourney Weaver) gets possessed by a spiritual ghost, along with her over-protective nerdy neighbor Louis (Rick Moranis) things become personal for the team. I can’t stress enough how much I miss Rick Moranis, he retired from Hollywood shortly after his wife passed away, and he was an awesome actor. (Little Giants, Strange Brew!) The science-fiction queen herself Sigourney Weaver is fantastic in this movie, she really was a kick-ass chick back in the day, from this franchise to the Alien franchise. She will always be known as the nice lady who paid them in advance before she became a dog. Ghostbusters gave us a lot of memorable characters and performances, and helped launch the careers of many people, and it even gave us Slimer! It also gave us one of the coolest movies cars ever, the Echo 1 that thing was a real beaut.
Towards the end of Ghostbusters, something happens, a scene that for the life of me, I can’t explain why I love it so much. I think its badass, awesome looking, considering it was 1984 at the time, fantastic movie score playing and when I think about this movie, this is usually what comes to mind first. Maybe because these guys were just four average joes who happened to have unlicensed nuclear accelerators strapped to their backs, and could destroy life as we know it in a blink of an eye, but yet they were the only guys who could save the world from annihilation. This is supposed to be a comedy, yet this scene just gets me fired up every single time. So here’s that scene…. Nimble little minx isn’t she!
The last 30 minutes is all time for me, from the scene above to the showdown with Stay Puff. Let’s just stop and talk about the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man for a second. “It just popped in there, I tried to think of the most harmless thing,” as Ray puts it. When coming up with character Aykroyd he wanted something that seemed puffy and cute — but given the right circumstance everything can be turned into dark and evil. Stay Puff was something that could never possibly destroy The Ghostbusters, and he might have if they didn’t cross the streams. I just always find myself smiling when he comes on screen, I don’t know it’s something about a 100 foot marshmallow man that I find endearing. He’s just one of the most memorable things in all of movies, I swear to god. It just reminds me so much of a classic Godzilla movie, Stay Puff slowly walking down the streets of Manhattan destroying everything in its path, before a showdown with our boys. Not before ultimately getting roasted just like Ray used to do around the fires at Camp Waconda. I’ve always wondered how long it would take to clean up all that marshmallow? Were the people of Manhattan just going around eating all of it, like everyone loves marshmallows! Like the mayor just comes out and provides enough chocolate and gram crackers for a massive s’more party, actually if that movie is made today, that is 100 percent a post credit scene. Or did it kill a lot of people, like hot falling liquid marshmallow falling from the sky, that sounds so dangerous. But it would be a really cool way to go out now that I think about it. Why did they think it was a good idea to have a goddamn painting be the bad guy in the sequel, why make a sequel at all, it was fine with just one Ghostbusters, actually I like to pretend there is just one Ghostbusters. See these are questions you ask yourself when you have watched this movie as much as me.
When it comes down to it, this movie just makes me happy. I love when it’s on TV, I can quote the shit out of it. Bill Murray is one of my favorite people ever; it has everything I want in a movie. Laughs, action, great acting, writing and directing. It’s almost a perfect movie, I could go on forever about Ghostbusters, it’s a cult classic, a cinematic masterpiece. They just don’t make movies like this anymore, unfortunately they try to “reboot” or “remake” classics like these, and it’s a shame. I’m not even a big fan of Ghostbusters 2 it just doesn’t have the same effect on me as its predecessor. So just remember if someone asks you if you’re a god, you say YES!
