A blog

I'll keep this short.

Bad story. Bad acting. Action scenes were confusing. Worst CGI and special effects I have seen in a long time. Horrible acting. Campy one-liners. Bad script. Bad editing. Stupid music. Reall, truly, horrible acting.

I liked the first one a lot, and the second, while not as good, was enjoyable, but this one is just a mess. It was hard to not walk out on it. By far the worst movie of the year so far, and quite honestly, one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

If you are planning on seeing a movie this weekend, and still haven't seen The Dark Knight, please spend your money wisely and see that. Really, anything but this. I wouldn't waste a dollar for a rental on this one.

Mummy 3: 1 out of 5.

WARNING: THE FIRST COMMENT BY MR. WILDFLOWER CONTAINS A SPOILER FOR THE DARK KNIGHT! FOLLOWING COMMENTS MAY ALSO HAVE SPOILERS! DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT!

Is anyone else totally sick of this little banner ad? I hate ads that talk.

Though, I do like the ads about web-cam chicks that show half naked women. Way to go Fox 2!

So, here it is. The long awaited Batman movie. The one that has gotten untold amounts of hype.

And the hype was well derved. This is undoubtedly the best comic book movie ever made, and the best movie of the year so far, out of the movies I've seen. To clasify this as a "comic book movie" or a "super herp movie" seems demeaning, because this is a movie with true depth that rises above any comic book adaptation. This movie is very, very dark. Even with a PG-13 rating, I would not reccomend taking a child under the age of ten to see it. I can easily see The Joker invading a child's nightmares after watching this movie.  

In a movie full of great performances, Heath Ledger steals the show as The Joker. He gives us one of the best villian performances of all time. He should definately get a nomination. The way he manages to combine a total psychotic creepiness with eerily comical moments is astounding. While Nicholson's portrayal was good, Ledger's performance outshines it in every way.

The Joker is not the only good thing in this movie. The movie is a very dramatically driven film. It is not non-stop action, and when the action is done, it is believable. It isn't over the top. The story is complex, but not complicated.

I could go on, but I don't want to get to long winded.

The Dark Knight - 5 out of 5

Spoilers may occur in the following comments. Read at your own risk.

I wish I could take credit for this, but I can't. It is from the IMDB boards. It was written be someone going by the screen name of MacV216. Here is the link where it is written. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448157/board/nest/9306541
9 I just think it is hilarious.

"These whales have had it too easy for too long. I am sick of coddling them. Them and the dolphins. Basically any aquatic mammal. What you're too good to live on the land like the rest of the placental creatures? No one thinks about all the victims of whale violence; Ahab, Jonah, Pinocchio and those are just the ones who didn't really exist. It is high time we start teaching these giants a lesson. Just because you are bigger than us and live in the water doesn't mean that you aren't subject to our senseless violence. I don't know about you but the only question I have about whales is where can an angry young man buy a harpoon. Did you know that Orca's are the most widely dispersed spieces of animal in the world. That is right they are in every sea and ocean. They've got us surrounded. I am sick of you whale sympathizers and apologizers endangering and undermining my safety by down playing the serious threat we all face from imminent whale attack. I've got a powerful hunger for whale meat. Let the war begin. Whose side are you going to be on?"

This movie is an artistic masterpiece. It is the best of the CGI films I have ever scene. The details and emotion the animators are able to convey in this film are astounding. The story is a combination of beautiful simplicity, with the love story between Wall-E and Eve, and subtle complexity, with the stark trash-ridden future of the Earth and the sloth and material consumed human race. There is a lot of political undertones in this movie, but they do not take away from the main story, the love story, but simply serve as a backdrop for the two robots.

Wall-E is the perfect lovable and innocent character. The animators are able to convey so much emotion with the simple movements of his eyes, it is mezmerizing. This film has a lot of funny parts, but I would not call it a comedy. To me, this film is a piece of art. The environments are so beautifully rendered, there is so much detail. It is definatrely worth seeing on the big screen.

I would not recommend taking kids under the age of 7 or 8 to this movie. To me, it is definately a movie that will be enjoyed and appreciated more by adults than it will children. I noticed some of the younger ones getting restless, and even heard one ask "is the movie over yet" half way through. There are a lot of slow parts in this movie, though the slow parts were my favorite. The whole beginning showing Wall-E perusing Earth and passing the time is down-right brilliant. This movie is not non-stop action and colors and slapstick. It has all of that, but no in abundance. If you are wanting to take a young child to see an animated movie, I think Kung-Fu Panda may be the better choice, which is also a spectacular movie.

I really think this movie deserves a best picture nomination, but I don't expect that to happen. It isn't depressing enough.

This film is a must see, and as of now by far the best movie I have seen this summer.

I give Wall-E a 5 out of 5.

So, here we have the latest of a seemingly un-ending stream of CGI animated movies staring Jack Black as the panda. I won't bog this down into plot details (the title alone should be enough).

I can only think of one word that describes this movie: AWESOME!!!!! Man, was it great. There were a ton of hilarious moments. Jack Black was the perfect person to play this role. Tons of dead-pan humor with well done slapstick (note the well done).

The best and most surprising thing about this movie was the action. I am a huge fan of the Kung Fu epic moves, ya know, the ones in subtitles with Jet Li. Love 'em! Well, this movie basically pays homage to all of those with awesome fight scenes that really keep you entertained. I can't help but want to watch some of my favorites(Hero, Fearless, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)  all over again after seeing this.

This movie is just down right fun and entertaining. I put it up thier with the best of the best in the animated movie department. It goes along with toy Story and Shrek. . .maybe even above.

Don't let the stigma of this being a "kid's movie" scare you off. You are only missing out.

I give it a 4.5/5. SKADOOSH!!!!!!

Well, I’m going to keep this short, because I don’t want to give anything away. Also, I am a huge fan of the first three Indy films, which makes this even harder and more painful.

The acting was bad. Harrison Ford phoned it in. The story was ridiculous and childish, it had me rolling my eyes often. The action and effects were poor. The prairie dogs and monkey’s outright cuteness (probably at the fault of George Lucas) was infuriating. The ending was horrible and campy.

Biggest disappointment at the theater in a long, long time.

I give this train-wreck of a movie an unfortunate 1.5 out of 5.

Belleville (my home town) is having its annual art fair over the qeekend, which is on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It is an excellent fair, and one of the best, if not the best, things Belleville does. It has been ranked as the number one art fair in the country several times. It really is great. I have attended every year since it started, and it never gets boring. Every kind of art you can think of is on display and available to buy. I always buy something, and plan on doing the same this year, especialy from John S. Gibb, an amazing pencil artist - his drawing look like photographs.

If you are a great supporter and enthusiast of the arts, or you just want to look around and take in some good food and good music, please come to the art fair (officially called Art on the Square). It is an awesome display, and I plan on attending tomorrow, before all the prints have been picked through.

For directions and more information, go to http://www.artonthesquare.com/.

Hope to see you there!

Hear is my first in my series of summer movie reviews. Don't worry, there will be no spilers, and if you do want to talk about something in the movie that is key to the plot, make it known before you type it. Comments are more than welcome!

I saw Iron Man on Friday, and I thought it was an excellent movie. When I first heard Robert Downey Jr. was going to be cast in the lead role, I had my doubts, but I don't think they could have picked a better leading man. Gwenneth Paltrow plays his assistant/love interest in the film and she is very good. It isn't often when you get an academy award winnning actor for a flick like these. Jeff Bridges, a very underrated actor in my opinoin,  is also excellent in his role as a shadowy businnes partner. In a lot of comic book movies, you can tell the actors are phoning it in for a paychck, but that isn't the case here.

The effects are amazing. Probably the best of any comic book adaptation so far. Rarely does computer generated imagery (CGI) look so real. I couldn't tell when something was CGI or not. The action scenes were also good. There could have been more, but a lot of action was sacrificed for plot and character development, which is a good thing, though I think the momentum of the story suffered a litte slowdown in the middle.

So, it comes down to this: if a movie about a billoinare that makes a high tech suit of armor that allows him to fly and shoot lazer beams out of his hands sounds stupid to you, don't see it. If you are like me, that is freaking awesome! I love comic books and comic book adaptation movies, and I have always been an Iron Man fan, so that they pulled off this movie so well was a real treat. There is an axcellent mix of seriousness and comedy that is just perfect, and the scenes where he is building the suit, which happens the whole movie, make this story as believable as possible. Luckily, this comic book movie is filed in with the good ones (Batman Begins, X-Men 1 &2, Spieder-man 1 & 2) and not the bad ones (Fantastic Four 1 &2, Ghost Rider, Spider-man 3).

I give Iron Man a 4.5 out of 5.

THE HUMANITY!

Okay, I know I can't be the only one here who plays video games, and from reading the profile, I know Harp is a gamer. So, what are you playing right now? What systems? Favorite Game? Favorite system? Etc, etc, etc.

I recently bought a PS3, and am currently playing the newest Racthet and Clank game, which is a happy alternative to my normal violent gaming, though Devil May Cry 4 (my next game on Gamefly) will fix that up. My favorite game on the PS3 so far is Call of Duty 4: Modenr Warfare, the best FPS I have ever played. Highly recommended.

And to answer some more questions, my favorite system is Super Nintendo, my favorite game is, well, I don't have one. To many good games.

Also, what games are you looking forward to? I am looking forward to a lot. The new Metal Gear Solid, the next GTA, a game called Prototype, and The Force Unleashed, what may be the first truly great Star Wars game ever made.

Also, this blog is for discussions about gaming. This being said, I will do something I rarely do and delete off topic posts, which includes the politics of videogames. This is for video game LOVERS, not haters.

So, what did you think? I thought almost all the deserving people won the awards. No Country for Old Men is a masterpiece and deserved the best picture award. I saw There Will Be Blood, and did not see what is so great about it, aside from Daniel Day Lewis's AMAZING performance, who won best actor. I would recommend that movie just for his performance. I think he is today's greatest living actor, maybe just the greatest peroid. Javier Bardem won for best supporting actor for his chillingly cold perofrmance in No Country for Old Men. The biggest dissapointment was Ruby dee not winning supporting actress for American Gangster. She was really good in it.

So, what are your thoughts? It doesn't ven have to be Oscar realted, just what you thought about the movies. I would be especially interested to hear what people think of There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men.

Extremely clever and hilarious clip from South Park.