Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Ok so here's the first video for the upcoming Transformers: Robots in disguise coming next year. I really enjoyed Prime and as stated this series is going to be more kid friendly...good for my son, Megs in Prime was nightmare fuel for him.
So if this takes place after Beast Hunters I suppose we'll see Shockwave, RC, Rachet and Predaking  :)
And from the looks of it Bumblebee will be returning to Erf, I wonder if we'll get a series cross over between RiD and Rescuebots....


Sunday, August 17, 2014

Anime Movie Review: Space Pirate Captain Harlock

My earliest memories of Anime are Galaxy Express 999 and Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman), I watched them as a kid but it wasn't till I was in college that I re-discovered the magic of anime and started doing a little research to find the shows I watched as a kid, I discovered the versions I saw were sadly far from the original versions....Robotech is probably the worst offender. I also discovered series I hadn't heard of like Space Battleship Yamato and Space Pirate Captain Harlock.
Since learning about Harlock I've wanted to watch the series, his design is so iconic and has transcended many generations...  Well I still haven't gotten to see the original series but I watched the 2013 Space Captain Harlock movie! Holy crap this was incredible!!!
First off the animation is absolutely stunning! Remember the first time you saw GitS or FF: TSW ....Space Pirate Captain Harlock will floor you the same way. The crew of the Arcadia are re imagined 100% faithfully to the original series and are simply jaw dropping to see on screen. The story is equally incredible, it retains the ideas of the original series while developing some new details around the mythos of how Harlock became Captain of the Arcadia. Speaking of the Arcadia, Toei Animation has done an impressive job redesigning it for the 21st,  century. Seeing it emerge from the dark matter cloud created from folding space was a very cool effect.
When Yama shows the crew the little white flower he brought back from the surface of Earth it totally reminded me of the episode in SDFM when Hikaru finds a field of flowers growing while out on patrol and it also reminded me of Wall E. I'm older and more cynical and the first thing that I thought of was, "Big F'n deal weeds! Wonder if Yama found any cockroaches also."
Space Pirate Captain Harlock is now on Netflix, so check it out! For more info head over to the official site: harlock movie.com



A

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

RIP Robin Williams

I've read about plenty of celebrity deaths in my life, most recently Philip Seymour Hoffman. But this one more than any other has upset me. I watched him as a child in Mork and Mindy reruns, and he has had some timeless roles in movies but when I heard the news yesterday one particular role suddenly came to mind, Dr. Sean Maguire in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting. The scene that immediately came to mind was where Matt Damon analyzes a painting in Maguire's office and basically psychoanalyzes Williams character to the core.
The scene is amazing and sadly, now in retrospect I believe these two amazing actors weren't acting at all.....
RIP Robin Williams.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Free Swim's Cinematic Super Hero Showdown! 2014 Edition

Free Swims Cinematic Super Hero Showdown




Here's the 2014 Edition of Free Swim's Cinematic Super Hero Show down. 
Over the past couple years Hollywood has been churning out alot of Super Hero movies, some truly memorable ones and others we'd like to forget. I vaguely remember seeing Superman 1 in the theaters as a child and being completely blown away when Christopher Reeve flew over the Manhattan skyline, the advancement of CGI has taken the fantastic feats Super Hero's do in comics and brought them to the silver screen, but the greatest special effects can't help a weak story or poor acting.

Check out my list, do you agree/ disagree?   


41. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

This movie just goes to show how far a great franchise can fall when greed overcomes! Such a sad fall from grace...














40. Green Lantern

First off, let me say I think Ryan Reynolds is a good actor, and this was not the Super Hero movie for him. If the Deadpool movie ever gets out of development hell he has to get the part!
Now onto Green Lantern....I will say the female co star was smoking hot, and the special effects for parallax was decent in some parts....
That's pretty much it :/
the aliens from the Green Lantern Corps seemed like rejects from the Star Wars prequels.
It took me two tries to make it thru this movie....that's all I have to say. If you have to see it don't spend real money to do so coughinterwebzcoughcough




39. Ang Lee's Hulk


Eric Bana you choose unwisely....
I still can't get over those scenes where the hulk bounced across miles of desert to get somewhere, uggh, green poop!
After seeing the trailer for Ed Nortons The Incredible Hulk I think this franchise may be salvageable. I hope there's no super bouncing Hulk!









38. Superman III

The poster really says it all...doesn't it? The scene in the diner with evil superman was great though...it really tackled the theme of every super hero's battle with their "dark side", this one did it just a little worse than Spiderman III.











37. Dare Devil

Ben Afleck...is there nothing he can't do?! Apparently Super Hero movies...
After watching this snooze fest I wished I was blind too!
Colin Farrel as Bullseye, Michael Clark Dunkan as Kingpin and Jennifer Garner as Elektra, the big names are there what happened? Not much, this movie was highly forgettable and boringly predictable.
Dare Devil never felt much like a Super Hero movie, just a bunch of actors playing super hero...meh.






36. Darkman

OK so I did see this movie in the theaters way back in 1990 I had to hit the wiki to refresh my memory. 
Before Ras Al Ghul Liam Neeson was DARKMAN...dun dun duuuhhh...
Unlike most of the super hero's in this list the movie preceded the comics. The origin of Darkman is more akin to comics like The Crow or good ol officer Murphy of the Chicago PD...
Darkman is a little too similar to Batman both wear masks, both are vigilantes, both are waaay too serious. Batman has awesome crime fighting tools (anti shark bat spray) and vehicles, Darkman has a Fedora!
I think Darkman could've benefitted if it had a better villain, instead we got Durant :/ 



35. Batman

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed!
This is a great intro to the Dark Knight for kids! My son is 4 and a half and LOVES this movie! 
Bat-Shark repellent spray, 
The Human Dehydrator, 
The US military selling a pre nuclear submarine to a P. N. Gwynn with only a PO box address!  
Silly fun perfects for kids!
KAPOWWW






34. X Men III


Here's the case of Good-Better-Ooops.
I mean c'mon Bryan Singer hands the blue prints to Brett Ratner, the formula for success is right there and yet....
The movie wasn't a complete failure, I thought the Dark Pheonix was badass, Famke Jansen can be beautiful and horribly scary at the same time! Ian McKellan did a great job with Magnetto throughout the series, and Hugh Jackman IS Wolverine, but poor James Marsden, Cyclops ends up so pussywipped he dies at a lake and hardly gets mentioned there after!
And if your gonna kill off a central character like Charles "wheels" Xavier, have the balls to stick with your decision.



33. Spiderman III

This movie made $336,530,303 at the box office last year! Don't believe me? http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2007&p=.htm
It was #1, how could it be all the way down here at #29!?
I'm willing to bet anyone reading this dropped $9.75 to see this OVERHYPED mess last summer. Another classic example of a great franchise hitting sequelitis, not only that but the total misleading ad campaign, everyone and they're aunt thought Venom was gonna be the marqee villain! No, we got Sandman, and he wasn't very evil,he was a regretful thug trying to do the right thing for his kid but seemed to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Venom should've either been left for Spidey IV or made the main and ONLY villain. This movie failed to even come close to living up to the hype, too much was attempted too little was achieved.


32. Superman Returns


Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's a deadbeat dad from Krypton! That was one hell of a kiss Kal El! Great, Bryan Singer is going to give us a fresh new vision for the Man of Steel for the twenty first century....maybe not. This Superman stands for truth, justice and avoiding alimony checks! WHAT!? Kevin Spacey as Lex Luther cool! Do we really need to know how he got all his wealth, do we really need Lex Luther AGAIN? Isn't there anybody else Superman could've fought? At least we find out why Cyclops didn't get a proper funeral at Xaviers crib now!
So I spent $9.75 for a polished retcon, thanks alot!




31. Judge Dredd

I saw this one with my friend CJ, Judge Dredd isn't one of the mainstream super heroes, much like Dare Devil and Hellboy, so this movie attracted two types, the fans of the comic and those who were fans of 80's action star Sly Stallone. When this came out movie producers were still looking for larger than life actors to fill the boots of super hero's like Stallone, Ahnold and Dolf Lungren. I think this movie would've been better with a lesser known actor playing Dredd. Interesting character, poor translation to film.





30. Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy vs The Elves of Lothlorien....















29. Superman II


Hey where's Richard Donner? Who's this Richard Lester guy?
What was intended to be a continuation from the first film ended up as the first sequel in an abysmal downward spiral of Kryptonian fecal matter. If you want to see Supes II as it SHOULD'VE BEEN do yourself a favor and pick up the Richard Donner cut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_II:_The_Richard_Donner


28. X Men Origins: Wolverine

Dysfunctional family, sibling rivalry, obesity, gambling, father/son issues, Will I Am getting a spinal tap, crappy CG adamantium claws, naked Hugh Jackman running around, killing defenseless old people, totally botched continuity....all forgiveable....


 Absolute failure realizing the Dead Pool character......JIHAD!!!!







27. Thor

When ever a movie says "from the studio/ producers/ directors that brought you (......)" that's never a good sign. 
But this movie wasn't that bad....
Thor felt more like a good fantasy movie than a Marvel super hero movie to me, and unlike Iron Man it didn't feel like an origins movie either. I enjoyed Thor and can confirm he is no homo in this movie, but I wouldn't spend the money to buy it when it releases on Blu Ray & DVD.  My review here: Thor Review 









26. Hellboy

Guillermo del Toro brings a lesser known comic book hero to the silver screen. Ron Pearlman was great as Hellboy, Abe Sapien was cool to see on the big screen, the makeup Pearlman sports in the movie was very impressive. Nazi's, a baby from hell, Rasputin and hell hounds, unlike Judge Dredd, Daredevil and the Punisher this movie was a great representation of the comic book character, I'm looking forward to the sequel, The Golden Army!








25. Spiderman

It certainly took the friendly neighborhood Spiderman a long enough time to hit the silver screen, but due to Spidey's acrobatic crime fighting style it was probably impossible to do without the power of CG. I enjoyed the origins story it was funny seeing him discover his new powers, Rosemary Harris as Aunt May was great, I really think she was terrific. And she Shined even brighter in Spidey II. Tobey Maguire was ok as Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst did a commendable job as Mary Jane.
The weak link in this movie was Willem DaFoe, I loved him in Platoon, but his performance in Spiderman went from creepy to downright clownish as the Green Goblin. That helmet was awful!
It's understandable why Spiderman did so well.....everyone knows Spiderman!

Fun but not epic....


24. Batman Returns

Look at the expression on Keatons face in this poster.... 
I had the same one after leaving the theater... 
Burton kinda screwed himself by having Nicholson's Joker in the first film whether he intended on a sequel or not. If this was the first and  Batman returns had Nicholson's joker it would've worked out better IMO. As good as DeVito was as the Penguin it can't compare to Nicholson as the Joker...he's trumped both ways.






23. Dredd

This was a HUGE improvement over Stallone's Dredd movie! Simple story with intense action. The scene with Ma Ma high on Slo-mo in the tub was cool! 
I did how ever see The Raid: Redemption shortly afterwards and the two movies are almost identical! Someone ripped off someone else's story.....










22. The Crow

I remember seeing this back when I was in college and thinking, "Why couldn't the batman movies be this awesome?"
Brandon Lee....son of Bruce Lee as a reincarnated vigilante angel! C'mon the movie is awesome some start to finish, amazing atmosphere, all Goth, with the title song from The Cure....which I was also a big fan of! 
A very cool movie about death and rebirth and then there's that whole Brandon Lee dying during filming a scene that's some crazy shit!
I remember my friends and I going frame by frame to find the moment he was shot...
FIRE IT UP!!!


21. Blade


When was the last vampire movie that made bloodsuckers so cool!? Blade was fresh and the hero was badass, Wesley Snipes was perfectly cast for the role, and Stephen Dorff as Deacon frost was a great choice also, the two played off each other too well. The overall story may have been a little hokey but it was fascinating to watch and goth kids everywhere rejoiced as this Superhero flick made vampires the in crowd.
The only low point in the movie for me was the end of the fight between Blade and Deacon Frost....the CGI effects where poor, the thing looked like a bubbling blood clot. Otherwise Blade was well worth the admission price.




20. X Men: Days of Future Past

Holy retcon Batman! Time travel can undo all the wrongs with X3 AND help realign this franchise. I'm getting burnt out on Wolverine. Michael Fassbender is great as Magneto...he breathes new life into the character. And speaking of new life....Quicksilver! I'm looking forward to seeing how Magneto's son crosses over to the Avengers franchise.










19. Man of Steel

Is this franchise worth this many attempts to regain it's cinematic glory that was the original Christopher Reeves Superman? I don't know, what I do know is this was a much better movie than Supes Returns! Henry Cavil was well cast. I couldn't care less that Kal El snapped Zod's neck...I'm not a purist. The things that irked me were when Zod makes first contact Clark is in the kitchen drinking a beer while a football game is playing on TV behind him, it's also dark outside so lets figure it's between 8 and 9PM in Smallville Kansas (Central Time Zone), which means it's between 9 and 10 PM in Metropolis (NYC), ok first why is the daily planet office packed like it's the middle of the day? And on top of that how is it also dark Japan, China, Tibet or where ever it is when Zod makes first contact.
The only other issue I have with Man of Steel is after the destruction of Zod's ship, Metropolis looks like Europe after WWII....it's totally FUBAR! Then Supes and Zod go mano a mano and destroy even more of Metropolis! Than minutes after Supes snaps Zods neck we see Clark walking into the Daily Planet and being intoduced to Lois Lane! 


18. Iron Man 2

Everyone said Iron man 2, hell yeah! This movie is gonna be twice as good as the first!
Well it was bigger and had more action and Olivia Munn and epic indy car crashes but it really didn't seem better than the original in the end. It was fun but I wasn't feeling the Tony Stark charisma in IM2 like in The Avengers. And the final battle against Whiplash was very underwhelming.
A good sequel, larger scale, fun.....nothing epic like Alien to Aliens but a solid summer block buster experience. 






17. Iron Man 3

This one was tough to place! Should I compare it to the Avengers movie or Ironman 2???
There was no chance IM3 was gonna be able to compete against The Avengers so I am comparing it to IM2. IM3 has some really awesome sequences but it also has some not so awesome moments ...
1) 10 y/o Harley Keener helps a billionair genius track down the Mandarin
2) Ben Kingsley not really The Mandarin
3) Guy Pearce really the Mandarin....breathing fire
4) Super Pepper Potts saves Tony Stark

Lets see where the M.C.U. takes Cap and Thor after the events of The Avengers!



16. X Men First Class

Michael Ironside commanding a battleship!!
Best Movie Evah















15. The Incredible Hulk

Can gamma radiation erase my memory of Ang Lee's Hulk movie?
This IS the Hulk I know! The Bruce Banner that's on the run from the U.S military, that is constantly moving around to avoid being caught.  The one I watched as a kid.
Ed Norton reminded me of the actor from the TV series, Bill Bixby.
I liked Tim Roth's character, Gen Blonsky who devolves into The Abomination. 
The fight between The Incredible Hulk and The Abomination was  awesome. 
HULK SMASH indeed!




14. Blade II


Guillermo Del Toro (Hell Boy) took the best parts of the first and added more blood, more gore, and more horror but was able to retain the cooler aspects of the Vampire lifestyle in the 21st century. Is the enemy of my enemy my friend or enemy...Blade teams up with the Bloodpack, a formidable squad trained to hunt down Blade but find themselves allied against a new strain of vampire.
As cool as Deacon Frost was he seemed like a vampire technophile compared to Nomak, son of Vamp lord Damaskinos. Namak may come from vamp royalty but he ain't no pushover. The fight scenes were crazy eye candy!
Guillermo Del Toro made the second instalment of the series the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Blade trilogy!



13. Captain America

I was really surprised by Captain America, the first trailers didn't really sell this movie too well, the fan made one was pure gold though. 
Captain America was a very entertaining movie with a superb cast and awesome action and Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull! 
Chris Evans is perfect as Steve Rogers / Captain America.
Check out my Captain America Review .









12. X-Men

It's tough enough to do an origins story for one Superhero, Bryan Singer attempts to introduce 6 hero's and 4 villans...not an easy task, just ask Sam Ramiri about Spiderman3! X Men accomplishes this task pretty well, for Joe-movie-goer who never read one X Men comic they were able to differentiate all the different characters,their abilities, who's good, and bad. Wolverine and Rogue are really the only two character's who's origin is touched upon and Wolverine's continues through to the second movie.
Ian McKellan as Magnetto took some getting used to, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier was a perfect casting in my opinion.
Lite on action, and a rather silly story X Men accomplishes the difficult task of introducing so many different super hero's.
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) steals most scenes and is the marquee character, which isn't a bad thing.


11. The Dark Knight Rises

The third and final chapter in Christopher Nolans Dark Knight trilogy was good, the movie mirrored  the occupy wall street protests going in NYC. Bane represented the 99% (the lowest common denominator)  ....the people's champion during batman's absence. 
Watching TDKR was similar to having the last 50 pieces in a 1000 piece puzzle, you can see what the picture is gonna be but some parts haven't been figured out yet.
I'm glad Nolan choose Bane as one of Batman's final villains, he's well enough known without being mainstream and gave Nolan room to mold him to fit in this trilogies realm. Tom Hardy as Bane, Cillan Murphy as Dr. Johnathan Crane, Joseph Gordon Levitt as Detective John Blake...all members of team Nolan did fantastic jobs with their roles.  The highlight for me was Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate....her little secret was fantastic! Ya gotta always watch out for that slow blade!
A respectable conclusion to a fantastic trilogy for a comic book super hero!



10. Batman


Tim Burton takes the Dark Knight and puts his trademark atmosphere into Gotham City, Jack Nicholson creates a Joker that all others are compared to, I can't wait to see where Heath Ledger takes the Joker in the upcoming TDK! Michael Keaton does a good job as Bruce Wayne/Batman, but any scene Nicholson was in he stole the spotlight.
Burton's vision of Gotham was great but his Batman was not as dark as his comic version. Batman unlike most super heros is more of an anti hero as he is more akin to a mercenary.





9. The Dark Knight

Why so Serious?
Before TDK came out I thought Nicholson's Joker would be the one all other's would be compared to, I was wrong Heath Ledger's (RIP) Joker is the most powerful and disturbing villain in any super hero movie I've ever seen, money, power, infamy, Ledgers Joker doesn't care about any of that he is the epitome of chaos. Aaron Eckhart does a great job as Harvey Dent/Two Face








8. Iron Man


After seeing this movie I decided to do this list, Iron Man was a fun ride! My review can be read here:
Simply put Robert Downey Jr. was a great cast for Tony Stark, as far as an origins movie I think it was slightly better than Spider Man 1, Jeff Bridges was a better villain than Willem Dafoe, and Iron Monger was so much better than the Green Goblin ugghh that mask was soooo stoopid! Gwyenth Paltrow's Pepper Potts was as good as Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane, but I like Pepper Potts character a bit more. Iron Man was definitely worth the $10 a ticket...dam movie tickets are getting so dam expensive, and the theaters for the most part aren't reflecting the high prices in their quality....but that's another discussion.



7. X Men 2

Lets get the proverbial ball rolling! With the origins stuff out of the way more or less lets take these mutants to the next level. I wasn't to crazy about Ian McKellan's Magnetto in the first movie but he grew on me in each consecutive sequel. X2 started out with an attack on the president and set the stage for what was hinted at in the first movie. Humanity's fear of the unknown and the atrocities we do to each other because of our fears.
X2 unites the 2 mutant sides against the humans, this angle was also done in Blade 2...it worked well in both movies.
X2 also introduces Nightcrawler and Lady Death Strike to the cast of mutants, both visually impressive in their own way, Nightcrawlers makeup is very impressive, LDS beautiful yet deadly and the fight between her and wolverine was great! X2 adds more action without sacraficing the over arching story. A definite improvement over the first X Men film.


6. Spiderman II


What was that line from Scream 2? Oh yeah, "sequels suck", this doesn't seem to be the case for some of our super hero's...at least for the second sequel.
Like Blade and X2, Spidey hit the floor running in his sequel, unlike those two, Spiderman had to fight the good fight alone, but when Peter Parker resolved his persona issues he found himself facing the visually impressive Doctor Octopus. Played by Alfred Molina, he really did an amazing job with the villan. This movie had people cheering when Spiderman fought Doc Oc.
Spiderman 2 really captured the essence of the comic book character, every single character in the movie seemed like they were torn straight from the comic book! Great Super Hero, terrible delivery boy lol.

5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I'm sorry but does Gary Shandling look like a toad or is it me?
Amazing follow up to Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers! Far better than Iron man's post Avengers movie. The film stands on it's own and works well in the M.C.U. so joe movie goer can enjoy it and those that have been keeping up with the MCU can enjoy it for what it is and how it fits into the larger picture. Chris Evans was the ideal choice for Steve Rodgers. I enjoyed the story and how HYDRA survived in the shadows and continued to manipulate society from post WWII all the way to the present and actually infiltrated/amalgamated into SHIELD. This actually got me hyped to see the Agent Carter series also. There's so much shit going on heading into Age of Ultron! Hydra has an Infinity Stone, will Bucky help the Avengers battle Ultron, will Thanos show up? Will Magneto show up to free his children (of the atom)Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver?


4. Guardians of the Galaxy

The number one reason I enjoyed GotG so much was IT'S A FUN MOVIE! It's an adventure in space, that isn't hindered by political intrigue, taxation of trade routes, scientists that act like they're sponsored by red bull when surveying a strange new world, messiah-like characters that save humanity from machines, yada yada yada.
Having prior knowledge of the comic's isn't really necessary to enjoy the movie and in fact may be a good thing if you're not in case  the MCU made some changes to GotG cannon. The soundtrack as I suspected absolutely fits the comedic atmosphere of the movie with some amazing songs from the 80's!
It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a movie so much that I'd be willing to pay to see it a second time, but I would for GotG.



3. Batman Begins


Best origins story for any super hero so far, tied with Spidey 2 for best authentic representation of the character from it's comic book source material.
Why is this so much better than say Superman returns? Chris Nolan had an ORIGINAL vison, and didn't just polish up Burton's Batman. He also gave us a really unique villian instead of re-using the Joker again we got one of the franchises original villians, Ras Al Ghul and Sarecrow! Christian Bale is so much better as Bruce Wayne/Batman than Michael Keaton, George Clooney or Val Kilmer.
If the Joel Shumacher series left a bad taste in your mouth, Batman begins will be like a shot of Listerine!
Although this is the best representation of the comic book character, Batman Begins doesn't seem like a comic book story at all, absolutely worth having in your personal collection!


2. The Avengers


The avengers movie is best described as greater than the sum of it's parts, meaning as good as Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America and Thor were The Avengers took all those awesome super heroes and amplified them to the power of greyskull the SUN!!
Super Fun Summer Super Hero Flick, Great Acting, Awesome Dialog, Special Special Effects.
   









1. Superman


When you mention any other actor who's done a super hero movie none more than Christopher Reeve embody the Hero they played more in my opinion. Sure Superman is dated and the special effects pale in comparison to newer super hero movies like Spiderman, but none have the heart and soul that this film had! One of my favorite scenes in any movie I've ever seen is when Phyllis Thaxter as Martha Kent walks out to Clark Kent in the wheat field, that scene is beautifully understated and yet full of so much emotion.
Christopher Reeve's Superman represented all that was great about America and all humanity regardless of what was happening in real life. When I saw this as child I believed, just as the poster said...
The music by Johnathan Williams was just as powerful as Superman. Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor might not have been a very powerful villan but his diabolcle plan was evil yet genious enough to qualify him for magna cum laude of evil villan school.
Superman remains a timeless American classic.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Dancing Baby Groot

At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy we see that Rocket has "saved" Groot. The big fella is now but a wee sapling and has found his groove in a hilarious scene! As Drax sharpens his blades, we hear Star Lords Awesome Mix #2 playing and baby Groot gets his groove on.
The moment I saw this it reminded me of a toy flower that used to "dance" when music was playing and I said to my wife and friends, "Marvel should make a toy dancing baby Groot toy!". Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought this, I've seen requests all over the interwebs for dancing baby Groot, and some fans have gone so far as to design the box art and DIY their own dancing baby Groot!
Box art Illustration courtesy of kelly angel 


DIY Dancing Baby Groot courtesy of Saber Fire Tiger

Marvel could not only have the highest grossing movie this year with Guardians of the Galaxy, they could have the hottest toy this holiday season if they make Dancing Baby Groot toys!
I would definitely buy 2!
What do you think? Would you buy one?


Friday, August 1, 2014

Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

1500 years ago, everybody knew that the earth was the center of the universe. 500 years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat. And 15 minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow....

I saw GotG Thursday night with my wife and friends, prior to the announcement of this movie I knew nothing about the Guardians of the Galaxy and I only knew Rocket from UMVC3. The trailers did a great job not only giving those of us unfamiliar with the comics a quick and dirty introduction, it did it in a way that was relatively spoiler free and really built up some great hype.
So how was it?
Well my wife was 100% certain she was gonna hate it...based solely on seeing a talking raccoon and a walking tree and when we were walking out of the theater she admitted she enjoyed the movie.

Marvel is synonymous with Superhero's/ Mutants so this rag tag group seems kinda un-extraordinary, but that's part of their charm....they're underdogs, ordinary shmoes and they know it! But together they are the Friggin Guardians of the Galaxy!

The number one reason I enjoyed GotG so much was IT'S A FUN MOVIE! It's an adventure in space, that isn't hindered by political intrigue, taxation of trade routes, scientists that act like they're sponsored by red bull when surveying a strange new world, messiah-like characters that save humanity from machines, yada yada yada.
Peter Quill aka Starlord may not have much in common with a billionaire, genius, philanthropist, or a Norse God, or a Super Soldier but he does have ALOT in common with a certain Professor of Archaeology, and a certain scruffy Nerf Herder and Chris Pratt seemed perfect for the role.
I've only seen Dave Bautista in one other move, 2012's Man with the Iron Fist's....he didn't have a large role but his screen  presence was matched only by his size, as Drax the Destroyer, Bautista was genuinely funny and dangerous at the same time, nothing gets over Drax's head...literally or metaphorically.
I've yet to see Zoe Saldana in a role that I wasn't impressed with and I enjoyed her as Gamora, her and Pratt worked very well together. In fact the entire crew seemed to have the same camaraderie as the Avengers crew.
Rocket and Groot were amazing to see realized on the silver screen, their performances stand on equal ground as the non digital actors. As far as digital characters are concerned these two and their respective voice actors have delivered the most enjoyable performances since jar jar binks....just testing to see if you're still reading this review. I hope to see some kids dressed as Rocket this Halloween, that'd be awesome!

Lucas film and Jar Jar Abrams really need to watch Guardians of the Galaxy to remember what made Star Wars the cultural icon it was....it's NOT hundreds of lightsabers in an arena full of termite engineers, it's discovering mysterious locals like Knowhere....That's no moon that's a severed head of a Celestial!
It's also interesting characters like Benicio Del Toro's Tanaleer the Collector, Djimon Hounsou's Korath the Hunter  and Lee Pace's Ronan the Accuser that made this movie so enjoyable! And lets not forget we finally get to see Thanos!
And the soundtrack as I suspected absolutely fits the comedic atmosphere of the movie with some amazing songs from the 80's! Baby Groot approves!




I've enjoyed almost every origins movie Marvel has put out so far; Capt 'Murica, Hulk (Ed Norton), Iron Meng, and now Guardians of the Galaxy. As I stated at the beginning, having prior knowledge of the comic's isn't really necessary to enjoy the movie and in fact may be a good thing if you're not in case  the MCU made some changes to GotG cannon that will enrage fans (because that has never happened before ;)) Guardians of the Galaxy will appeal to a wide demographic, male female old and young (10+)

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a movie so much that I'd be willing to pay to see it a second time, but I would for GotG.

B+


Oh yeah and this......
GotG > PT