Discussion Question
So, why didn’t Avatar win “Best Picture” last night? Don’t get me wrong, Hurt Locker was a great movie and they both deserved to win it, but why Hurt Locker and not Avatar. Let me hear your thoughts?
What You’ll Find in Alice in Wonderland
If you’re looking for the Lewis Carrol version, you need to look elsewhere. This Alice in Wonderland is certainly not it, nor does it come close. The PG rating is a very loose rating. It should be PG-13, not for younger children. Tim Burton’s twist on the classic, I will say, is not bad…for the older crowd. It’s a twist that’s favorable if you want to get a little more action to this story. Johnny Depp plays an excellent Hatter, albeit kind of creepy. This movie is worth it, and if you think this is a typical Tim Burton fantasy-fest, you’ll be surprised. “Newcomer” Mia Washikowska is a surprisingly good lead in a CG-dominated movie. Her talents will be rewarded soon, I’m sure. Where previous Alice in Wonderland’s fail is the imaging of it. If you’ve read it, you know it’s certainly not a “children’s book” where everything turns out flowers and butterflies. The themes are more juvenile and mature. This movie accurately depicts that. If you have the pleasure to watch it in 3-D, do it. It’s an adventure that you won’t soon forget. This movie gets my first perfect rating.
The New Scream Queen?
After watching the remake of The Crazies, I think I found the current version of the ultra B-movie scream queen. Who takes the dubious honor of modern day scream queen, in my eyes? Danielle Panabaker. In the Crazies (spoilers) she gets hung, but before her annoying character was finished off, she put on the performance fitting for the award; she has a good set of pipes. In the remake of the Friday the 13th, (another spoiler) she puts on yet another good showing. A little known fact is she played Kevin Costner’s character’s daughter in Mr. Brooks, but she doesn’t die nor does she do a lot of screaming. Besides that, what qualifies someone to be a scream queen? One, they have to be cute, second, they have to play a minor role or a role that almost thrusts them to star level, and they have to die. In both horror movies, she fits those requirements. Her screams are also boisterous and loud. Tenedra Howard played a good screamer, but she’s still early in her career. Danielle Panabaker’s the only one that comes to mind that is deserving of the award (currently), but if you can think of others, feel free to share your thoughts. Danielle will be in The Ward, where she will play an institutionalized patient. You know she’s gonna scream.
Predators: It’s True, It’s Coming
The much-anticipated sequel to the Predator will come out at the end of 2010-early 2011 timeframe. Okay, maybe not that much anticipated. It will be interesting to see how this movie is pulled off since they had three unsuccessful stints in this franchise already: Predator 2 (though mildly good), AVP and AVP 2. Then you had your shorts that tried combining Batman, Predator and Alien together. I wouldn’t mind seeing that in a full length feature, but seriously, a sequel without Governator and a retread cast of Topher Grace, Morpheus, and Adrien Brody is grounds to make this movie automatically flop. Of course it could surprise, but hope isn’t on the horizon given the recent string of failures. Can anybody really stomach another disgusting display of a Predator movie. I probably couldn’t. However, I’m going to watch it because Fishburne is going to be in it. The plot of the movie is tightlipped and mark my words there are plenty of false “leaked” scripts online. Early reports, though, will have a band of superior soldiers being hunted by the the Predators and is set in present day. As more definite details come out, I’ll let you know.
Comparing Both Wolfmen
After watching both Wolfman movies back-to-back to compare the two, I noticed one very important fact. They were both great. The Lon Cheney version was in black and white, but you really can’t compare the two in regards to graphics and cinematography. That wouldn’t be fair. But consider what the Wolfman did back then. It’s a completely different animal (no pun intended) when the original is dubbed as the one that started it all. I could see it, too. There was definitely a lot of to like about the original from a conceptual standpoint. And, I’d had to agree that it did set the standard. Now, the remake didn’t exactly smash barriers, but it was still good. It was good from a storyline view and from the action and suspense. So, generally, it’s hard to compare the two in the same vain, but understand and they’re both good for their own reasons.
I’d have to give the edge to the remake. Del Toro’s Wolfman was probably more heightening to me because of the special effects. I know that’s a cop out answer, but it helped to know the CG has advanced. If you’ve seen the original, you’d understand. Watch the original if you’ve seen the remake. You’ll be pleased. It’s not boring because it’s black and white. In order to appreciate film for what it is, the original Wolfman is a must watch.
BioShock 2
If you’re like me, you try to read as many blogs and articles you can about awesome new games and game reviews. I like Mike Smith, I do. He’s a good writer with good views and I think he got this article right on the dot: http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/critics-bioshock-2-very-good-but-falls-short-of-original/1388853. The original can’t really be matched in any way and it was in my top-3 video games of all time, but BioShock 2 is pretty awesome, but not that awesome. The story line is good, but unfortunately it’s kind of predictable. The game play is fun, but it’s not as fluid as the first game. It’s kind of stiff, if you will. I still give this game a 8.5, but I gave BioShock a 9.9. Not a far step down by any means, but it’s still fun and a good catch. You should check it out if you’re a BioShock Fan. You’ll be surprised.
We Need Change We can Believe In
I took a step back and realized that after waffling back and forth between whether the SyFy Channel was going down the tubes or not, is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is it’s unfortunate that we have to watch the Syfy Channel, pre-awesome-new-Friday-lineup. In fact, to me, that’s the only thing that’s redeeming about Syfy Channel. And that channel isn’t available to everyone. I analyzed, I consulted, and I considered some things, but the fact of the matter is, other than Fridays, SyFy Channel is shear bunk. Should we, as Science FIction fans, have something better to help represent our likes…not our dislikes? NBC tried the Chill Network and the quality of that is also subpar. You have FearNet, but the movies on that are low quality B-type movies but there are limits as to what is shown. My ideal channel would have certainly better shows that offer us something every day. The old retreads of shows that didn’t last a season is fine and all, but it gets old. It’s also not worth our time as fans. What should we have? Anything that’s not Syfy, Chill, or FearNet would be a plus.
Science fiction is more than an experiment gone wrong that wreaks havoc on the world. While that is perfectly fine for some audiences, what about the ones who love all aspects of science fiction. The political, religious, social commentary. And not the poorly written and directed fodder of gunk. So, enough of my ranting. My question to you, as science fiction/horror fans, what would you love to see on a science fiction channel? It can be anything and everything. Personally, I would love to see foreign and independent horror films. We get treated to one every week from a different country. There are many things we’re missing from Japan, Germany, Korea, China, etc. and we don’t know about them. I’m in the works with a producer friend of mine who is wanting to develop a science fiction channel that is better than tehe SyFy Channel, etc. so I reach out to you. What kinds of things would you like to see? Come one, come all. I would love to have your thoughts.
Mass Effect 2 is Well Worth It
The much-anticipated Mass Effect 2 alas has come out. It’s incredibly awesome and it should be rented or bought as soon as possible. It’s far better than the first one and more incredible than Resident Evil. It’s more story oriented than action oriented and there are several crucial decisions that you have to make. This game follows the first game and you reprise the role of Commander Shepard. From the opening scene to the final frame this game is awesome. As far as actual game play is concerned it is a little shorter than the first, but it’s still great and shouldn’t be missed. 10 out of 10 for sure. It’s nonstop action that will make you wish the game didn’t end. It does set itself up for a Mass Effect 3 and I already can’t wait.
Double Feature
I had the privilege to watch a double feature one evening and watch a third in advance. Book of Eli, The Lovely Bones and Legion will be reviewed here with a little excitement. Two of the three movies weren’t very good and highly predictable with a questionable cast (perhaps to earn a little extra money on the side). One of them is quite excellent. We’ll start with The Book of Eli:
While this movie does have it’s good action scenes, it lacks a lot: story, originality, dialogue, and writing. Half way through the movie you know what the book is and I won’t spoil anything for you, but the title gives a hint at it. Denzel does a nice job as a blind man, but I would think casting could have been better for his part. I’d settle for a younger Blade-like version of Denzel, but he did okay. Gary Oldman did a bad job acting and being a bad guy. The pace of the story was slow, but predictable and not interesting. I’ve seen post-apocalyptic movies before and they’ve been great (Mad Max) and they keep you guessing and siding with someone or something. Here, you get a dead pulse. 4 stars.
The Lovely Bones: This adaptation to the adultish book was hauntingly good. Marky Mark put on a good performance as did Stanley Tucci. Both individuals I’ll never look at the same again. The lead, played by a virtual unknown, plays a disturbingly good protagonist. This movie sends chills down the spine, be warned. It’s also pretty hard to take in some areas. After all, the book is about a a pedophile who murders children. You’ve been warned. The direction was hauntingly good and the dialog moved on just as well leading you into each scene. The chemistry of the actors worked out really well and this movie, by far, is the best of the bunch. I have to give this an 8.5.
Legion: Stay away from it. It stunk CG was terribly bad, and the acting was worse. Shame on you, Dennis Quaid. Shame on you, Tyrese Gibson. Shame on you Paul Bettany. Watch the Prophecy. It’s the same movie, only better. 2.
Up and Coming Writer you Can’t Miss
Every author had to have their start somewhere. Some took a little longer to get there while some were prodigies and took care of business early on in their career. A.C. Hall, author of This Fire is Mine, is a collection of short stories that touch on just about every emotion we’ve experienced in life, every thought we’ve had about the after life and every feeling we’ve had toward life and death. The book may be a collection of short stories, but each ten of his stories intricately delivers a knock-out blow to our emotions. The storytelling is excellent. If you’ve read Phillip K. Dick, or H.P Lovecraft, then you know how true storytelling is told. While AC Hall doesn’t create a new language or fictitious words true in a fictitious environment he does cleverly compact a novel’s worth of sci fi, fantasy and action in a collection of short stories. The themes in the book aren’t cliched to death, nor are they in any way beaten in the ground. The true-to-form narration guides readers through a sea of uniqueness. A.C. Hall is also author of the novella The Path, and full length novel Pictures at an Exhibition. Hall is a writer that is sure to hit it big one day. He has many more novels ready to pour out. You can buy This Fire is Mine from Amazon.