I don’t have time to give a full review so I’ll just give my general impressions. Since I’m now unemployed and have some time on my hands and haven’t been to the movies since Slumdog Millionaire, I decided to get out of the house and go see 1 flick that I wanted to pay for and sneak one or two more. Wolvie would be the paid flick and I chose Cinemark Festival Bay as the theater to go to since they were showing it at a time where I could bounce and see it immediately rather than wait a couple hours for the next showtime. The only other movies they had that I would’ve wanted to see (but didn’t think were worth paying for) are Star Trek and Angels & Demons.

Wasn’t about to pay theater prices for food so I hit McDonald’s and grabbed a quick bite. I’ve been to Cinemark plenty of times before but not for a while. It’s only a 5 minute drive from my house. Never explored the mall part though. Gotta do that someday. Free parking and my ticket cost 8 bucks and that was with the student discount! Crazy. I didn’t have time to walk around. I just took a piss and went straight to my auditorium. Movies notoriously never start at their advertised time and this was no different. I usually let some time pass before going to see popular movies and this was no exception. But the auditorium was still pretty packed. It was relatively quiet except for a few mumbles from some dumb kids behind me.

Hadn’t really heard anything good about Wolverine. Just average reviews. I believed them and they were right. It wasn’t great and it wasn’t bad. Just average. Nothing really special. Hate to say it but it wasn’t worth what I paid. You’re better off waiting for the dollar movie or dvd on this one. If you’re an X-fan, you’ve seen it already or are gonna see it. And you won’t be disappointed with the mutant appearances. But as far as bang for your buck, The direction simply ain’t strong enough. Story is decent. Acting is cliché and comicky in some areas. Moves slow in some parts. A little too romantic for what you’re expecting to be all action. And it’s PG-13.

This is Wolverine, dammit! Should be rated R for the screens, unrated for the dvd. Fuck that, fuck the movie rating system. The movie should be what the director intended it to be without having to worry about catering to studios’ needs for a broader audience to bring in more bucks and to fill the dvd with deleted scenes that we should get the first time out. Those should be included after movies these days. It’s all about money. Pay for the movie, pay for the dvd, then the blu-ray, then the special edition dvd, and it never ends. Fuck all that bullshit. And they wonder why motherfuckers download shit. Just so happens an r5 of Wolvie became available the same day I paid to see it. Coulda dl’ed and watched that but wanted to pay for the movie to support the franchise. Obviously Fox is gonna be pissed even more about that leak but that’s the times we live in now.

Their argument that a person is stealing a movie if they dl it is kinda ludicrous these days. All you gotta do is pull out a movie receipt as proof that you paid (here’s mine). Different medium or not, you paid already. You should have privilege. Just like if you bought a cd years ago and decided to dl it via torrent or whatever. You paid already so what’s the big deal?

The one thing I really didn’t like about this movie was the lack of blood. Oh sure, blood oozed from busted heads and lips. But none of Wolvie’s claws? Or on Deadpool’s swords? Or Stryker’s surgical knife? That’s just stupid. That’s that PG-13 bullshit. Plus I love Brian Cox. That guy is one hell of an actor and I was disappointed to see that he wasn’t playing Stryker. The movie had a lot of inconsistencies too. Other than a totally different Wolverine origin than I was expecting, and the watered down violence, some things made no sense. I don’t recall them ever mentioning Genosha by name. They just called it “The Island” like it’s a Michael Bay flick or something. They went in a totally different direction with the Deadpool character (I thought the ultimate mutant was gonna be Omega Red). The way Wolvie lost his memory wasn’t believable at all. And I thought Lynn Collins looked a lot like Leona Lewis. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

Had to hit up Wikipedia when I got home to figure out who some of the mutants were. Yet another inconsistency is when Wraith died. Sabretooth guts him but when they show his dead body, where’s the hole in his body? Where’s the blood and guts? Shit, his shirt is still buttoned and creased for cryin’ out loud! How’d they miss that? At the beginning of the third act, the power went out in the auditorium. People were blaming it on the theater and complaining that they wasted their money. Some people walked out. Hey, it’s been raining non-stop here for a week and this is the lightning capital of the world. Cut ‘em some slack. An usher came in to reassure everyone that the movie would resume asap and it did, right where it left off. So no harm done. Maybe those people that left got a refund. Who knows. Either way, in all my time going to the movies, that’s never happened before. It would be a night of firsts.

So would I recommend paying to see Wolverine? No. Wait for the dvd cuz it’s too watered down in theaters and the inevitable deleted scenes may fill in some necessary gaps. The first set of credits rolls by. Half the people in the auditorium had bounced when a short scene featuring Stryker still under the influence of a dead Silver Fox (yet another inconsistency) appeared. Then the full credits roll. Just me and a couple left inside and yet another scene with Wolvie at a bar in Japan appeared. Don’t leave until all the credits are done cuz you’ll miss some shit. All in all, if this movie went down the path set by Barry Windsor Smith and the Origin comic, it woulda been a lot better but unfortunately they only took bits and pieces of those to make this movie. It is rather disappointing. Thus my wait-for-dvd stance.

I knew I had time for either Star Trek or Angels & Demons so I had to walk around to find the auditorium. Dipped into several before finding the right one. I managed to find Star Trek. The lobby was pretty packed so that helped for cover since I had to go from one side of the building to the other. I’m not a Star Trek fan. I saw maybe a couple of the original movies but that’s about it. That’s where my knowledge and fandom ends cuz I don’t even remember those. I only know about Star Trek in pop culture. Therefore, there was no way I was planning on paying to see this since I wasn’t a hardcore fan. But I do like JJ Abrams so I kinda expected the movie to be good. Plus I wasn’t hearing anything bad about it anywhere. At the same time, that applies to Iron Man and I didn’t like that movie at all.

But Abrams’ name was good enough for me. And when watching the credits, I found out that Orci and Kurtzman wrote and produced this. Those guys are excellent at sci-fi fare. It helps that they had a good director at the helm on this one (unlike explosion-happy Michael Bay). No wonder it was so damn good. Yes, I endorse this film and it is definitely worth paying for. Great special effects, good story, good action and acting. Really good popcorn summer flick that’s worth every penny (shoulda paid for this and not Wolvie). Trekkies will no doubt love it cuz of the special effects and more so cuz of the appearance by the original Spock which is the basis of the movie. He ain’t there for nostalgia. His appearance makes this movie appear more of an origin movie and in-continuity rather than a stand-alone.

Calling it a reboot is better than calling it a re-imagining cuz it’s more of a continuance rather than scrapping everything that happened in the past and starting over. I knew enough about the franchise to get the jokes and references. One guy couldn’t stop laughing when a hungry Scotty met Kirk and future Spock and asked him if in the future if they still made sandwiches. The line wasn’t expected and is an example of how good the casting and direction is. I’d like to think they did a good job with characterizations cuz everyone that needed to stand out did. I thought the young russian guy’s accent was pretty funny since he pronounced his v’s as w’s if I remember correctly. Another plus was I got to see for the first time the acting chops of the guy who’s playing Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

I don’t have anything at all bad to say about the movie (minus the horrible paint job of that green-skinned, red-headed chick that Kirk was gonna bang). There’s nothing after the credits so you can bounce when they start rolling. When I said this was a night of firsts, I wasn’t kidding. Close to the climax, someone threw some booster seats up into the auditorium from the stairwell and those things were heavy enough that if they hit someone, they woulda did some damage. I just saw a streak of yellow and then I heard the thud. Luckily they didn’t hit anyone. No one knew at first what the hell happened. Everyone got up to look over to make sure people were okay. No one was hurt but everyone was curious. The people that almost got hit left the auditorium for obvious reasons to report what happened, I’d assume. Whoever did it got away with it only cuz no one was hurt.

We thought something fell or popped off the wall or ceiling or something. When the movie was over is when I saw the yellow booster seats. Because of that incident, I missed the part where the transporter went kaput and only got back into the movie when the pilot said that Kirk and Spock were on their own. So I don’t know how the transporter went down. I could dl the torrent to find out but I ain’t sweatin’ it. I can use my imagination.

Spock’s relationship with Uhura was pretty interesting to me. He’s already a half breed and part of an endangered species. You’d think he’d wanna breed with another Vulcan rather than a human mixed-latina, further watering down his genetics. That relationship is pretty representative of what’s going on in the real world as a lot of people are mixed with this and that. I ain’t against that at all but what’s gonna happen to racism a couple generations from now when a lot of people are gonna be products of already well-blended gene pools?

Anyway, don’t waste your money on Wolverine but do spend your money on Star Trek. After Trek, I peeped the lobby. There’s an arcade, regular theater food, and a sit-down area for more gourmet cuisine (which you can expect to cost a grip). In the bathrooms, there’s no barrier between pissers so you can’t hide your junk from pedo’s and fags unless you use the ones on the end where you can turn to the side while emptying your bladder. It’s a nice theater to spend some time before or after a movie which I think is smart biz considering all the mall options right outside the door.

I paid to see The Wrestler back on Tuesday 1/20/2009 but just now finding time to write about it. Paid the student price of 7 bucks at the Enzian which is a deal. But as usual with this place, the food is expensive. That’s one reason I don’t like going out often. You just wanna see a flick but you know you’re gonna have to eat and no theater food is cheap. Couldn’t go anyplace to eat before cuz I’d just got out of work and this was the only opportunity I’d have to see this movie so I had to rush. I went with my homeboy and we’ve been there before and they change up the menu often. We went half on a pizza and some doughnut thingies. Pizza was subpar. Nothing special. Dollar Totino’s from the freezer tastes better. Actually Totino’s is that bomb either way, regardless if it don’t cost shit. The doughnut things were on point too.

My objective was to see a good movie and support the battered wrestling community. The movie was pretty good. No complaints about the acting or anything but the in-ring camera work and direction coulda been a bit more authentic. Rourke really did a great job of acting and doing all his own ring work and taking bumps. Tomei still looks smokin’. And Ernest Miller is a lot bigger than he used to be but at least he ain’t fat and out of shape. Necro Butcher looked ridiculous as always but that’s really him though. Bald as a bat and barefoot trailer park trash. And the scene where Rourke nailed the rat in the bathroom got some good laughs. That and the black lady that ordered the fried chicken. Just had to be a black person, huh Darren? There’s other laughs throughout and some really serious moments. Evan Rachel Wood did a pretty good performance too but no one’s hoopin’ and hollerin’ about that for some reason.

My friend pointed out the comparison to The Passion of the Christ. Tomei’s character said Rourke was like Jesus and over the next few scenes Rourke was in a hardcore match and had a heart attack after but didn’t die. The guy was seriously living in the past and Darren did do a really good job of showing that. Pay phones and Super NES? Need I say more? Yes, there’s drugs in wrestling, rats, rabid and even dumb fans, low paydays, small crowds in crappy buildings, and I could go on and on. The life of a wrestler ain’t easy and that point was driven home. I liked the “use my leg” scene. And I can assure you that was authentic.

I’d say one of the more powerful scenes was the sign convention for the wrestling legends. It showed just how bad things are and can be. Charging fans for pics and autographs, waiting there as pathetic as can be for any kind of payday. The cam did a full circular of the room and it wasn’t a pleasant view. As a fan, it really hit home cuz unfortunately, it was accurate. The legends of the biz don’t get much love and it’s a shame. What made it even more powerful was the low turnout of fans in the scene. Just showing all those old guys there in the shape they were in was pretty saddening.

The movie ended the way I think it should have. Good job there. Yep, there’s nudity. You get to see Tomei’s boobies and she’s still on point. I’d recommend this to anyone cuz it’s a good movie all around but it does help to have some knowledge of the biz. They reveal some secrets but a hardcore fan knows about this stuff; casual fans may learn something. Non-wrestling fans will too and be treated to a good movie with good acting and direction. You’ll think you’re watching the movie Hitman with all the behind-the-back shots but if you’ve never seen that movie or don’t know anything the game, then you’ll have no idea what I mean. I give this movie 7 out of 10 stars. The theater was packed, by the way.

Thursday 2/5/2009 I went to see Sword of the Stranger at the Regal Cinemas at this new power retail center called The Loop in Kissimmee. It was playing one night only so I got approved to go into work later so I could peep it. Heard all this good stuff bout it, all these awards and shit…the movie wasn’t all that great. Can’t go wrong with the animation since it’s Studio BONES but the story wasn’t all there. Either details weren’t there to begin with or something was lost in translation since they showed the dub. For instance, who was the kid and lady that No Name killed in flashback? That was never explained at all. The movie was a bit confusing cuz of lack of exposition. The closest comparison I could make for it is Rurouni Kenshin (which was great) due to the nomadic samurai theme and music soundtrack which my friend liked.

The colors were dark too which was different. At first, I thought it was the screen. Then I thought things would brighten up once the sun finally came out or if they showed the blue sky. Didn’t happen. Afterwards, they showed some interviews of the creators talking about how they wanted to evoke the feeling of coldness since a majority of this takes place when it’s snowing. Yet, for the most part, none of the characters were dressed appropriately so it’s kinda contradictory. I wanted to support the anime community by paying for this one. $12.50 and the theater had only about 20 or 30 people in it. Coulda paid for a cheaper regular admission ticket and snuck in as I knew I could, but I opted out. If these things don’t have turnout, they won’t do it anymore.

I’ve done Anime Bento from Fathom Events, saw the first Bleach movie, and now this. The only reason I knew about it was cuz of a banner on animenewsnetwork. If not for that, I would’ve known nothing. I can’t recall seeing an ad during adultswim or anything. I’m not watching any AniMonday shows so I don’t know if they did ads during that either. But I think they could’ve did a better job of promoting this. One night only? On a Thursday night? I can see why, cuz it’s probably a slow night for theaters and they can spare the extra screen, but damn. And there’s better movies out there. I can’t recommend this one to anyone. It’s not good. It has its moments but overall it’s just not worth the time to see when factoring in total entertainment value.

I’ll still show up for anime movies as long as they keep bringing them in though. Gotta take the good with the bad. As far as The Loop is concerned, the place used to be all trees, now it’s this open air retail spot with tons of vacancies. One thing I hate about Florida construction is that we build out rather than up. I prefer the trees over this place. Not to mention it’s pretty far away and there’s no fast food joints around except a KFC/Taco Bell further down the street with all teenage girls working in the back. You want quick food, you can forget it. Not knocking the jit girls, I’m just saying, there’s only sit-down restaurants at this place. Parking was easy though. I got the closest spot for the 3 places I went to. Can’t beat that.

No time for the full reviews I usually do so I’ll just give my general impressions of these two flicks. Let’s start with Outlander. The only reason I know it exists is first, because when I was looking at what movies were coming out for the week, I saw it there and had no clue what it was. So I clicked it, did my research, and the plot was descent but most people were treating it as a joke so I didn’t dig any further. Then the torrent came out, the first of which was a bad copy. Then the proper came out. So I decided to dig a little deeper cuz the comments were changing from joke to serious. And guess what? This is a pretty good movie.

I’m learning that I can’t take too many comments from sites all that seriously cuz a lot of those people don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about, that’s why I revisited the movie. You gotta weed out the good stuff from the bad. People were talking shit without even seeing the movie. Then when people that actually saw it started commenting, it was mostly positive stuff and my assessment won’t be any different. Plotwise, it’s nothing new. It’s the typical ‘hero’s journey’ tale. Good guy gets the girl and wins as always. Nothing new.

But execution is a tad different. An alien in viking times helping them defeat a space monster sounds like something you’d see on the Sci-Fi Channel but this is far from the cheesy spectacles we’re all accustomed to from that network. There were a few questions and complaints about the cg quality in this movie. Only one scene has questionable quality where a guy gets smushed through a wall 22mins and 57secs in. Remember that clip from The Soup years ago where that monster snatched that lady through the door, bent her backwards, and broke her in half in the process? It’s kinda like that. Other than that, no complaints in this regard. Everything else was acceptable and high quality.

This movie can be compared to countless others; like Beowulf, Braveheart, 13th Warrior, and on and on. Like I said before, nothing new. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad and doesn’t stand on its own feet. A new creature called a Moorwen is introduced to us all. Jim Caviezel plays the protagonist whose ship crash lands on Earth. Just so happens one of those creatures is on board too. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happens. My only complaint is the predictability towards the end. The movie starts a bit slow, building up the characters which isn’t a bad thing. Things really pick up at the end of Act II cuz you think the movie is going to end but they throw in a little surprise that you don’t expect. I could spill the beans about it here but I won’t ruin anything. Let’s just say that if you’ve seen Cloverfield, you know the big monster wasn’t alone in its mayhem.

Would I recommend this movie? Yes. I give it 7.5 out of 10 stars. I’d find a quality dollar movie and pay the small fee to enjoy it properly because it is entertaining and provides a good level of escapism. The plot may seem dumb, it may start a bit slow, it is predictable towards the end, but the most important aspect is that it does entertain. This isn’t a low quality production either. The production standards are on par with any other big budget flick (minus that one scene) with cg elements.

From my research, the budget was $47 mil which is about what I’d expect for what’s on the screen. What gets me is why The Weinstein Company hasn’t promoted this at all. Never once did I see a trailer on tv. I only found out about it by a fluke. Luckily I wasn’t disappointed. It doesn’t look like this is gonna break any box office records or even recoup its costs and that’s a damn shame. If they put some effort into the marketing, this movie could be a success and deserves to be. Fucking thing doesn’t even have an official site. I really hope they’re doing a soft opening to test audience reaction before going wide with it. If the few theaters it’s opened in is all they plan on doing, then I’d say go see it now while you can. It’s worth it. Even though I think it was an open ending, I don’t see a sequel or prequel unless this movie makes some bread. The prequel is obvious in the flashbacks. The thing could still be alive and mate with Earth animals for a sequel. That’s just my ideas anyway.

Then there’s Taken. I actually did see a trailer for this and was so impressed that I was gonna pay for it (dl’ed it instead out of curiousity). I did my research and found out that this has already been released a year ago all over the world except the US. We’re just now getting it. And that first week’s box office is well deserved cuz it really is a good action movie with a degree of intelligence. I won’t compare it to any Bourne movies like most people. The fight scenes are similar but that’s about it. When it comes to the plot, it’s more like that Harrison Ford movie Firewall. Kidnapped family member, dad goes on a rampage to save them. The prob with Firewall is that Harrison’s character plows through every obstacle, even winning fights against people half his age…and he’s an office worker, not a soldier or anything remotely close to that.

Liam Neeson’s character, on the other hand, is a “preventer.” It’s established that he can fight and that’s what makes him believable. It’s also established that he just wants to make up for lost time with his daughter and they do a good job of that. I actually like the way the movie ends and wouldn’t mind a prequel/sequel if box office warrants it. I give it 8 out of 10 stars. I knock off 2 points cuz of two scenes. From start to finish, the movie is very engaging, never a moment where you’re not totally engrossed in the flick. That is, until Neeson rescues a girl from a construction site (I won’t get into the details of it) and a car chase ensues. The problem here is that they were shooting at him at practically point blank range and neither him or the girl ever took a single bullet. Then towards the end of the movie when he gets captured and they’re about to kill him, all looks lost but miraculously he finds a way to save himself. Both situations are just totally unbelievable and took away from the enjoyment of the movie for me. But that’s just me.

Other than those two, everything is on point. No complaints. Really good action movie. I don’t ever recall seeing Neeson in any movie to be honest so this was a good introduction. Like when I say Kevin Costner for the first time in Mr. Brooks. I’d say pay full price for this movie cuz it’s totally worth it. As the movie plays along, you’ll get the impression that he’s Superman cuz of those two scenes but if you can get past them like I had to force myself to, you will love this movie. Well paced, good characterizations, good underlying theme, good fight choreography. In other words, a damn good movie.