Review of the movie Captain America

Okay, let's get this off the bat first:  Yes, Captain America was worth seeing in the theaters.  :-)

Overall, it was a fun ride, and definitely a comic book feel to the story.  I really enjoyed it.  You sense a "but" coming, don't you?  Well ...  maybe that's coming.  ;-)

But first, the obligatory

***WARNING!***

Possible spoilers ahead!  If you haven't seen the movie Captain America and don't want what's in it spoiled for you, then STOP READING NOW!  You have been warned!

First, let me say that I loved the 1940's scenery.  It was gorgeous!  It was probably my favorite part of the movie.  Also, it was a refreshing change to see a movie that didn't eventually devolve into anti-Americanism; something that I feared would happen in a movie titled "Captain America", in which a Hollywood director might feel the need to add the obligatory anti-American jab just so that he didn't lose cred with his fellow anti-American colleagues in the film industry. 

Well, it was indeed respectful of the era! And good for them! It was also interesting to see Tony Stark's (aka Iron Man, of course) dad in the movie. Oh, you know that they had to tie in CA to Iron Man! LOL  Anyway, I really enjoyed the way they told Cap's story, and I also appreciated the fact that they didn't make his sidekick Bucky a teenager.  While it may make a good story in the 1940s, no self-respecting superhero would ever put a child or teenager in the kind of danger that being X superhero's sidekick would bring.  Remember, some of these supervillains are downright evil, and they'd think nothing of torturing or killing kids, especially if they know they are X superhero's sidekick!

Really, the only reason a superhero would take on a teenage sidekick is for themselves, and not for the sidekick.  But if a given superhero needs the ego boost that having an adoring sidekick brings, then they shouldn't be in the hero business.  Bit I digress...

All in all, I think the movie was great, and overall, on a scale of 1 to 10 in which 1 is a bomb and 10 is THE bomb, I give CA a 9.  It would have gone as high as 9.5, but the use of the 3D was totally unnecessary, and thus it earns a demerit from me, as all movies do when it's made 3D solely for the purpose of leeching out more money from us moviewatchers.  See, this is why I generally refuse to go see movies when they are in the theater. 

However, there is a little bitty hope that I could tack that .5 back on, and it wholly depends on what they do with Cap in the next movie with him.  Before I continue, consider the fact that when Marvel Comics first de-iced Cap, it was a mere 20 years after WWII.  While there were certainly quite a bit of social, technological, and many other changes over the course of the 20 years, it's nothing like the kinds of changes that have occurred from 1945 to 2011, which is when Cap was de-iced in the movie!

That has to be taken into account.  That is, they can't go all PC on Cap and have him accepting of all the changes that have come about since WWII.  I'm not saying that they should make him some sort of racist, sexist and homophobe, but to consider that Cap is a product of his age, and coming to terms with all that has changed in society is going to take a considerable amount of time.  In other words, the writers SHOULD explore his attitudes in such a way that doesn't intentionally make him look bad or ugly, but that should still be uncomfortable. 

For example, he can reflect that women in the 40s who dressed like the women he sees in the 21st century were usually called prostitutes.  Given time, he can adjust to the changes, especially in the way that women and minorities have progressed, and he can even say something along the lines that "It's good to see more and more people sharing in the American Dream." 

The writers also might make mention of Isaiah Bradley, another Captain America of the 1940s, and reflect on how the government had engaged in ethically and morally questionable research into creating the super soldier formula.  It would also be a legitimate way for the director to get his anti-American dig into the movie.  I may be conservative, but I was as shocked as anyone when the Tuskegee syphilis experiment became publicly known.  We should all be reminded of the limits of what our government should and shouldn't do, and mentioning Isaiah Bradley can be a very good way of doing that.

If the movie writers do indeed include my ideas and suggestions, then my friends, you will witness the very first time I changed one of my movie ratings!  And believe you me, I will be very glad to change it!  Even if they do make the next movie in 3 effin' D!

Review of the movie, Zombieland

Zombieland is a nerd movie!  LOL 

Being a nerd myself, that alone is enough for me to watch it!  But gee, there's other reasons as well!

However, before I continue, let me add the obligatory spoiler warning:

***WARNING!***

Possible spoilers ahead!  If you haven't seen the movie Zombieland and don't want what's in it spoiled for you, then STOP READING NOW!

You have been warned!

Main thing to like, though, is that there be zombies!  Lots of them!  One debate among zombieologists is whether zombies would move fast or slow.  One theory is that they would move slow and plodding because, having risen up out of the grave, they aren't exactly in shape to be bouncing around like ninjas.  These are dead bodies, after all, and they are dead for a reason.

Zombieland (ZL), however, takes a different tack, and it's one that I think makes more sense than reanimated corpses.  The zombies in ZL are infected with what would be a human form of rabies; that is, they are the victims of a mutated mad cow disease and become like dogs with rabies in that they go mad and are no longer in their right minds - so the only "cure" is killing them.  This also means that these zombies aren't dead, just diseased, so they are the fast-moving zombie types.  This thought-out concept is logical and adds to the fun and to the fear factor of the movie.

Did I say that a zombie movie was fun?  Yes!  Even though it is a horror movie, there is humor peppered throughout, and I imagine that if any of us were in such a situation, we probably would indulge in that sort of gallows humor as well.

Word of warning to those who might be sensitive to such things:  There are a lot of scenes in which human bodies are being shot with various caliber of weaponry, so of course there are a lot of exploding heads and bodies.  But who watches a zombie movie and doesn't expect those kinds of scenes?  LOL  There is also a lot of colorful language; f-bombs and the like.  I don't think it necessarily adds or takes away from the movie, but I think if you're in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, then the fact that someone is speaking in colorful language would probably be low priority as far as the problems that need to be dealt with in such circumstances.  ;-)

My favorite part of the movie happens to be the nerd lead character.  He doesn't turn from a WoW nerd into a full-blown action hero - he stays a nerd, with all the shortcomings and foibles that go with it!  Why should that change just because a zombie apocalypse has sprung up?  Still, the circumstances of dealing with all that goes with a zombie apocalypse forces him to deal with his personality shortcomings in a logical and even humorous fashion.

There is one scene that I could totally relate to, because it's what I would probably be most concerned about if a zombie apocalypse actually hit!  It would really, really irritate me if I could no longer shower on a regular basis!  The two female leads had to remind each other to not say the S word so that they wouldn't be reminded of that!  But enough about female vanity...

Anyway, I thought the movie was well thought out and I liked how each of the nerd's zombie rules would pop up to the side as each example presented itself.  Even Bill Murray's appearance was great!  There was only one scene that I have a complaint about, and that was towards the end of the movie, in which it looks like the ladies were about to drive off again with the car! 

By this time, they had driven off two other times with the car. After being fooled twice, don't you think that the dudes would know to - keep the car keys to themselves??? Fortunately for the movie producers, that is the only complaint I had about ZL.  :-)

Again, just a caveat that there are many scenes of zombies getting shot and blown up, so if you're squeamish about such scenes, then this might not be the movie for you.  Also is the previously mentioned colorful language.  Otherwise, I think you'll enjoy this movie as much as I did, because it lived up to the expectations that I had of it for a zombie movie, and more! 

So, on a scale of 1 to 10 in which 1 is a bomb and 10 is THE bomb, I give ZL a 9!  Yeah, I think it was that good! 

Coming next week will be my review of The Kings' Speech.

Review of The Guild Internet videos

Last time I discussed The Guild, it was the graphic novel. Here's my review of it.

Today I'm going to review the Internet series that helped launch The Guild in the first place. Right off the bat, I want to say that I really, really enjoyed it. Over my Christmas break, I watched all four seasons, usually watching a whole season in one sitting. As with my comments last time in regards to the graphic novel, I think watching The Guild is a great reference source to understanding the mindset of gamers; particularly World of Warcraft gamers; although The Guild series does not mention WoW because of copyright issues (and which is something I wish Blizzard, the company that owns WoW, would work out, because there is a lot of WoW-themed humor that this series misses out on).

Before I continue, it is time for me to mention the following:

******* WARNING! ********

Possible spoiler alerts ahead! If you haven't watched the Internet series, The Guild, and don't want what's in it spoiled for you, STOP reading now! You have been warned!

***************************

As I somewhat subtly hinted on Facebook, there were things that I didn't like about it, so let's get those out of the way right now. For one, I think the writer, Felicia Day, tries too hard to establish that all the guildies (of the guild called the Knights of Good) are batshit insane. Not only are the guildies batshit insane, but so is virtually anyone else that appears in the series. It gets tiresome to have that particular point re-emphasized constantly with the regular cast and with anyone new who appears. The only one who seems to be normal - although a bit annoying as only little sisters can be to their big brothers - is the little sister of Bladezz (whom I was told is the actual little sister of the actor. You can see the resemblance!).

Another thing that I didn't like is something that I didn't like of the graphic novel, Kick Ass (my review of it here), which is the depiction of what would be called child abuse in real life made out as entertainment. I didn't like the way Bladezz, the guild's teenage rogue, was harassed and cyber-stalked by the adults of a competing guild. In real life, such adults could be incarcerated for such behavior. Yes, yes, it's just a story, but again, I do not want the trend of child abuse being made into entertainment to continue. It sets a very bad example that child abuse is acceptable in certain circumstances. My least favorite part of this particular storyline is when one of the members of the rival guild, who is a cop, came out of Bladezz' house saying that he just banged his mom. It's times like this when I'll say "bleh" and flash a thumbs-down.

Also in very bad form is the constant depiction of Clara's inattentiveness and even abandonment of her three very young children (all under age 4, I would guess). The point of the humor here is that Clara is so addicted to gaming that she neglects her children; however, that particular point is presented to the point of overkill. Enough already! One time she even left her kids in the car while she had lunch with her guildmates. With so many stories of children being hospitalized or even dying after being left in a car, this simply isn't funny.

Before I get comments that exaggeration is one of the focal points of the humor in The Guild, let me respond by saying "I get that". I get it, and I even appreciate it - and when it's done right, it's done very well. Sometimes, however, the exaggeration is overdone; as if the writer was trying to squeeze out every possible exaggeration out of one scene before she moved on to the next scene with even more overkilled exaggeration.

As harsh as I've sounded so far, at least this is the worst of it. The good parts were very good, and it's what made this series very enjoyable.

The best parts, however, also happened to be the best parts of the graphic novel, and that is the depiction of the guild's online life. Here, the writing is its freshest and crispest, and it hits all the right notes at the right times - and it is also here that the exaggeration works the best. Probably the best way I can put this is that exaggeration when used to depict the guild's "real life" feels forced and even (here's that ugly word!) formulaic, while exaggeration when used to depict their online life works naturally and flows easily and fluidly.

It was also in the scenes of the online life that got the most laughs out of me. In future episodes or graphic novels, I would like to see what Felicia Day can do with a story that takes place wholly in the online world, with only references to their outside life without actually showing it. Originally, I thought that it might be fun to see their avatars as cartoons or computer animations, but that last episode in which the guild was shown in their avatars' costumes and inside their new gloomy and fortress-like guild hall (Season 4, Episode 12), worked perfectly, and this is how I think future representations of their online life should be depicted.

It worked perfectly, because it perfectly represents how we see ourselves in our online lives. That is, we aren't just the avatar of a hunter or warrior or shaman; online role-playing games are fun because we see ourselves in those little worlds. It's also probably a sign of my generation that we connect and socialize via technology; whether through online games, or Facebook, or tweeting, or the other means of which we connect instead of face-to-face.

So does The Guild represent my generation and how we connect and socialize with each other? I suppose that it could be true in a very real way. So what does that say about us and our socializing skills? Are we doomed to be unable to relate to each other except through technology? Is this need for technology to just talk to each other mean that when we do venture out into the real world, we end up as the cartoony exaggerations that is shown in The Guild?

I say that no, we aren't doomed to living cyber lives. Cyber socializing is a tool, but it is still not a substitute for the real thing. And what this cyber socializing does for us is makes the use of technology to gain access to information as natural to us as listening to Beatles albums was to our baby-boomer parents. So while some may see technology as a trap, I say that it does not have to be that way if we don't let it. Instead of being known as the generation that got lost in the cyber forest, we can be known as the generation that mastered it.

Ha! I love that The Guild helped inspire such contemplation, and it is why I enjoyed the series so much. On a scale of 1 to 10 in which one is a bomb and 10 is THE bomb, I give the guild a 9. If Felicia Day takes my suggestion of a whole episode or graphic novel in their cyber world and is able to master it like I think she can, then I might actually issue my first ever 10. Boy, do I look forward to that!

And now in closing, please join me in dancing to what was my favorite video out of this whole series, a music video called Game On! Oh man, I loved this so much that I played it several times with the sound turned up, and danced along! It was so clever and catchy! As Zaboo would say, "Awesome'd!"

My thoughts of the upcoming Thor movie

Here is an article about the upcoming (that is, coming next year) movie on Thor. I'm trying to think about how I feel of a movie about a thunder god.

Portraying him in a comic book is one thing, but to try to translate that to the movies is another. Thor is more "Lord of the Rings" than he is "superhero". Think of the environment he lives in: Asgard. Then think about the kinds of creatures he fights: Elves, trolls, frost and fire giants, and the like. See? Isn't this more Lord of the Rings?

It seems to me that the Thor movie, at least the first one and maybe even a second, should work on exploring that kind of LOTR enviroment that he grew up in. Why not indulge in that sort of fantastic setting that made the LOTR movies so great? By the way, I LOVE all three LOTR movies, so I'm a tad biased toward making Thor in this way.

Anyway, I think the writers and the movie makers should start out Thor in this way and just have fun with Thor fighting trolls and giants in the sort of fantastic environment that made LOTR so much fun. Perhaps in a second movie, or even a third, THEN the writers can try to bring him into modern times. It might even be interesting to explore how he reacts to the changes in the world since the time he was brought up in.

This will also give us an idea of the kind of environment that he came from and what he's used to; that way, we can see where he's coming from and how puzzling and confusing the modern times are to him. From the eyes of an immortal, it must be shocking to see humanity to go from mud huts and horse drawn carriages to multi-story skyscrapers and Wi-Fi in a blink of their immortal eyes.

This would also explain why Norse gods speak English with a Shakespearean dialect (as they once did in Marvel Comics): Because they first learned English in Shakespearean times, so that's the dialect that stuck with them throughout their immortal years. It could be funny to see Thor having to update his Shakespearean English dialect once he gets more involved into modern times.

I think these ideas will be a very good way to introduce Thor to the movie audience (especially those for whom the comic version of Thor is new), and to work on the transition from his LOTR upbringing into the modern age into a second or later movie. My fear, though, is that this movie is going to stink because they'll put in tons of battles and cheesy special effects simply because the movie makers feel that "that's what we want", and to also justify putting it in 3D.

I wish movie makers could really try to be bold and innovative with these kinds of movies, but unfortunately the possibility is virtually guaranteed that they'll stick to the usual predictable and formulaic storyline and scenes that I could write myself. In other words, I have low expectations of how this movie will turn out, because Hollywood is such a sad, pathetic, and predictable shell of its former self. It's one of the reasons that I don't like paying for the ridiculous prices when these movies first come out in the theaters.

As I recently said, Toy Story 3 was a nice and pleasant surprise, but I don't expect such a high level of a surprise from the Thor move. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt I will be.

Review of Toy Story 3

Okay folks, in a rare instance of me seeing a movie while it was in the theater (gasp!), I ventured out to watch Toy Story 3 (TS3).

For those of you who may be new readers to my blog, there is something you should know about me in regards to movies. Seeing as how we pay so much nowadays to go to the movies (not to mention the price of the drinks and snacks!), I absolutely hate paying for a bad movie. Not just dislike it like most people, I HATE it!

I'm talking being mad about it a couple of days later! Mainly I hate the fact that the movie industry puts out worthless crap and charges so much for it, and since we keep going anyway, they will keep putting out formulaic, unimaginative, over-hyped and over-priced crap! I hate spending money on crappy movies so much that I still feel bad for the person who treats me to the movies because they know I hate paying for crappy movies! Even if someone treats me, the movie industry is still getting rewarded for putting out a crappy movie!

But I digress.... :-)

Before I continue, the usual disclaimer:

NOTE: The text below will contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want the surprise to be blown for you, STOP READING NOW! You have been warned!

I had to really be persuaded that I would really enjoy TS3, despite the higher ticket price because it was in 3D. I warned my friends that if this movie turns out to be crappy, be prepared for me to Hulk out! LOL Fortunately for them, not only did I enjoy the movie, I loved it!

I feel that it is a worthy successor to the first TS movies. I love how the story reflected that things change even for toys. Toys get sold in yard sales, thrown away, or donated to someone else. And I never imagined the hell that a toy goes through in a day care! I also love how the writers make you really feel the emotions behind the characters. Who knew that you could feel such emotion from a stuffed doll or a plastic action figure?

Of course parts of it was going to be predictable and formulaic. After all, did we really expect the toys to perish in that junkyard incinerator? Still, the joining of their hands and the facing of their impending demise together with a brave face was really moving. I would imagine facing such a fiery death would be especially difficult for Woody, because he always figured out how to get out of trouble spots. But here he had no answers or last-minute escapes. When he saw that it was futile, he joined hands with them.

If you haven't seen the movie and are STILL reading this, then I'm going to make you watch the movie to see how they get out of that! Bwahahahaha!

My favorite character, though, was Chuckles the Clown! Here we have a doll that is all cute and brightly-colored like a clown doll should be, but with such a hardboiled and dour attitude! I loved the irony! He's my new hero! LOL

The ending to the movie actually brought a tear to my eye. Andy, the little boy who owns the toys, is now about to go off to college, and at the end, he gives all his toys to a little girl. When he finds that Woody unexpectedly is in the box, he hesitates for a moment before handing him to the little girl, but he ends up giving him to her. And then he plays with them (with the little girl) one more time before he heads off. What a fitting ending, I think.

On a scale of 1 to 10 in which 1 is a bomb and 10 is THE bomb, I give TS3 a 9. The only thing that I didn't like wasn't the movie itself, but the fact that it was in 3D. Being in 3D didn't really add anything to the story; so basically, it was just a pretty and unnecessary accessory.

TS3 is a movie that I'll purchase when it comes out in DVD. :-)

Movie review of Monsters vs. Aliens

My apologies, but for some reason I thought that I had already posted my review of Monsters vs. Aliens! But when one of my GFs asked where it was, I told her that it was on my blog, and she told me, "No, it's not." To my horror, I saw that she was right! So without further ado, here is my review:

---------------------------------

The movie, Monsters vs. Aliens, was a very enjoyable movie. In it, the monsters are much like the mutants in the Marvel Comics universe, a misunderstood minority with special abilities and powers. But rather than be led by a Dr. Charles Xavier, the monsters are instead incarcerated by the government because the feds think that, as the prison's warden notes rather wryly, "the people have more important things to worry about, like paying taxes". That was probably my favorite line from the movie, because it is more true in regards to the government's attitudes towards us than that moment in the movie implies. :-)

Before I continue, let me add this disclaimer:

****SPOILER ALERT!****

The review below contains spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie and don't want what's in it to be revealed to you, STOP READING NOW!!! You have been warned!

****SPOILER ALERT!****

The movie mostly centered on a young woman named Susan who becomes a 50 ft woman after being struck by a meteorite. During the time of her incarceration and into her first battle with the invading aliens, all she wants is to get back to her old life and to be with Derek, the man she was about to marry until she grew into a giant. There are a lot of pop culture references from the monster movies of the 1950s, so pay attention and see how many you can spot!

My friends, the thing is, I really wanted to enjoy this movie - but one thing kept coming up that was rather annoying, and it was this movie's insistence on making everyone stupid. The president was an incompetent idiot along with his crisis staff, and the movie's villain was also a stupid idiot. And two of the monsters, Insectasaurus and B.O.B., were also stupid. It's like the movie was a celebration of stupidity! When did Forrest Gump become a standard to strive for?

And it's not so much the fact that the movie had so many stupid people in it, it's mainly the fact that the movie leaned so heavily on "stupid" jokes. To me, the overabundance of "stupid" jokes was a cop-out from making other, more thought-provoking humor; especially considering that this genre was fodder for more and better humor. And the story was a tad predictable - what else was Susan going to do other than come to her senses and see Derek for the jerk that he is?

Despite my negativity above, I did enjoy the movie, and some of the humor was indeed such that I laughed. I just feel that they easily could have made the story even better. The artwork was awesome, especially the fight scenes. In a scale in which 1 is a bomb and 10 is THE bomb, I give Monsters vs. Aliens an 8. The great art kept me from giving it a 7.5. It is definitely worth seeing at least one time.