Tower Heist
Ben Stiller plays an average joe who has worked all his life at New York City's most prestigious high rise apartment complex. Average housing cost 5 million, Alan Alda plays a multimillionaire financier who is about to be busted for defrauding all of his customers, including all the pensions of the apartment building workers. Angry that while they are trying to figure out what to do without their retirement savings the crook is stilling living in his penthouse apartment under FBI watch, Ben stiller decides to call on Eddie Murphy an old friend from the neighborhood and a career criminal.
The Goal? Steal 20 million dollars from the thief who stole their pension money. This comedy seems to be taking on the recent Bernie Madoff scandal where basically people found out Madoff was using fuzzy accounting and the new money coming in to pay those who wanted to get out. Can a bunch of hard working every day folks and one criminal steal their money back from the guy who has it all and is in the most secure place he can be?
Monday, August 8, 2011
Still no reviews
I know I know, what happened to the movie reviews. I dunno I just haven't been able to wrap my mind around writing them lately so I haven't anyway I decided to start adding the actual trailers to the blogs about the movie trailers I go see. I don't know if that will remain a constant I guess it depends on whether or not I feel it slows the site down too much. If I feel it's too much of a burden I will just switch out to links of the trailers.
Saw Cowboys and Aliens last night, I liked it I know I'm a good week behind on all of my movies but hey as I get to there I get there. Once November gets here there is no more walking to the movies. They are closing the Raleigh Springs Malco 12, its been a slow process as they close down theaters, take out games and cut down movie times. I'm just glad that for the most part it has gotten a majority of the movies I have wanted to see. Now that Summer Movie season is starting to wind down while I still want to go to the movies I will probably hit them less since well time is neither on my side nor will it be in my favor. It doesn't surprise me that they are closing the theater after the big summer blockbuster season but before the start of fall and winter breaks, get your last big hurrah of cash out of the site and then close it before it becomes difficult to close. Once the theater closes I have no clue what I will do for entertainment, I guess I can start walking to the comic shop which is only a little bit further down the street. It's about the same expenditure of cash and it's actually something I can walk home with. So one vice for another I guess, it has been a fun summer even if I wasn't able to keep up the blogging.
This is at the moment at best a hobby, and like any other hobby it requires time, sometimes I can make time for it others my time is best used elsewhere as I continue though to blog more hopefully it will become even more second nature so that the amount of time it requires to think up what I wish to put in a post takes less time. I haven't gotten to the "ooh I have to outline every thought before I go off on a tangent phase yet", but I may be near the "hmm lets write down a few things I definitely want to touch on". I think I am still fighting against such rigid constraints because at least for a while blogging would stop being fun and would require some work, mentally not there yet. I think I am getting better, could probably stand to proof read a little more than I do, but just like drawing the more you write the easier it is to write. So writing I am, even if it's fluff updates like this.
You can contact me on twitter, tumblr, or hell hit me up on google plus (button stage left) as soon as I find a contact widget I will gladly add it in if there are any questions one doesn't want to leave in a post but wishes to ask me directly. I get enough spam as it is not to want to release my e-mail address because who wants spam.
Saw Cowboys and Aliens last night, I liked it I know I'm a good week behind on all of my movies but hey as I get to there I get there. Once November gets here there is no more walking to the movies. They are closing the Raleigh Springs Malco 12, its been a slow process as they close down theaters, take out games and cut down movie times. I'm just glad that for the most part it has gotten a majority of the movies I have wanted to see. Now that Summer Movie season is starting to wind down while I still want to go to the movies I will probably hit them less since well time is neither on my side nor will it be in my favor. It doesn't surprise me that they are closing the theater after the big summer blockbuster season but before the start of fall and winter breaks, get your last big hurrah of cash out of the site and then close it before it becomes difficult to close. Once the theater closes I have no clue what I will do for entertainment, I guess I can start walking to the comic shop which is only a little bit further down the street. It's about the same expenditure of cash and it's actually something I can walk home with. So one vice for another I guess, it has been a fun summer even if I wasn't able to keep up the blogging.
This is at the moment at best a hobby, and like any other hobby it requires time, sometimes I can make time for it others my time is best used elsewhere as I continue though to blog more hopefully it will become even more second nature so that the amount of time it requires to think up what I wish to put in a post takes less time. I haven't gotten to the "ooh I have to outline every thought before I go off on a tangent phase yet", but I may be near the "hmm lets write down a few things I definitely want to touch on". I think I am still fighting against such rigid constraints because at least for a while blogging would stop being fun and would require some work, mentally not there yet. I think I am getting better, could probably stand to proof read a little more than I do, but just like drawing the more you write the easier it is to write. So writing I am, even if it's fluff updates like this.
You can contact me on twitter, tumblr, or hell hit me up on google plus (button stage left) as soon as I find a contact widget I will gladly add it in if there are any questions one doesn't want to leave in a post but wishes to ask me directly. I get enough spam as it is not to want to release my e-mail address because who wants spam.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sequels vs Remakes/Reboots: Spider-man Pt. 3
Live Action
For any comic book fan live action has always been either feast or famine. Of all the characters who have gotten a Live Action version the most popular seems to be Superman, the Man of Steel has had 8 live action incarnations. From Movies to Broadway Plays and TV shows, Superman is to date the most successful Comic Book Character to be translated into Live action. Now to be fair I am not just talking about money made off of said property I also mean the dutiful translation of the character and his villains, If I was just talking about money Superman would still be up there but especially including recent box office success the list would probably be:Batman, Spider-man, Iron Man, Superman and The Incredible Hulk(mainly because of his long running TV series and made for TV movies). The problem with most live action attempts is that the medium of Comic book and cartoon allows you to create a world where physics don't matter, you can create whatever look you want and since it isn't "real" you tend to get a break on the look of things. With live action if it doesn't look right people will be disappointed.
The 1970's
Peter Parker got a live action TV show in 1978 called the Amazing Spider-man starring Nicholas Hammond
Okay, as a 4 year old at the time this show came out I would like to say as BAD as it looks now hey everybody looked like that back then. Those extra shiny costumes, the cheesy special effects, the bad wire work there was no cgi back then it was all rotoscoping, stop motion camera work, and picture flipping. As a little kid just happy to see Spider-man on my TV screen I ignored the fact that the webbing came out as a Nylon string or else a premade net, I also ignored that I guess Mr. Hammond had never done any rock climbing because it always looking like he had just bent over and dog walked up the sides of buildings. Nick Hammond had the look of peter parker though, yeah yeah those weird eye screens were always kind of silly but I guess back then it was the only way they were able to let him see. It ran for about 2 years and while today's standards relegate it to the campy-ness of the original Batman live action TV show or maybe a step below the Incredible Hulk TV show for believability. The Transformation from Bill Bixby to Lou Ferrigno worked because of the difference in stature of the two men even if since then live action hulks tend to be CGI and stay away from purple pants hood.
For any comic book fan live action has always been either feast or famine. Of all the characters who have gotten a Live Action version the most popular seems to be Superman, the Man of Steel has had 8 live action incarnations. From Movies to Broadway Plays and TV shows, Superman is to date the most successful Comic Book Character to be translated into Live action. Now to be fair I am not just talking about money made off of said property I also mean the dutiful translation of the character and his villains, If I was just talking about money Superman would still be up there but especially including recent box office success the list would probably be:Batman, Spider-man, Iron Man, Superman and The Incredible Hulk(mainly because of his long running TV series and made for TV movies). The problem with most live action attempts is that the medium of Comic book and cartoon allows you to create a world where physics don't matter, you can create whatever look you want and since it isn't "real" you tend to get a break on the look of things. With live action if it doesn't look right people will be disappointed.
The 1970's
Peter Parker got a live action TV show in 1978 called the Amazing Spider-man starring Nicholas Hammond
Okay, as a 4 year old at the time this show came out I would like to say as BAD as it looks now hey everybody looked like that back then. Those extra shiny costumes, the cheesy special effects, the bad wire work there was no cgi back then it was all rotoscoping, stop motion camera work, and picture flipping. As a little kid just happy to see Spider-man on my TV screen I ignored the fact that the webbing came out as a Nylon string or else a premade net, I also ignored that I guess Mr. Hammond had never done any rock climbing because it always looking like he had just bent over and dog walked up the sides of buildings. Nick Hammond had the look of peter parker though, yeah yeah those weird eye screens were always kind of silly but I guess back then it was the only way they were able to let him see. It ran for about 2 years and while today's standards relegate it to the campy-ness of the original Batman live action TV show or maybe a step below the Incredible Hulk TV show for believability. The Transformation from Bill Bixby to Lou Ferrigno worked because of the difference in stature of the two men even if since then live action hulks tend to be CGI and stay away from purple pants hood.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Sequels vs Remakes/Reboots: Spider-man Pt. 2
The Cartoons
You don't hang around for 40 plus years, sell tons of merch, become a favorite of people around the world and don't sooner or later get placed onto the small screen. Spider-mans quirky mannerism, flippant conversations and determination has made him a beloved cartoon character for generations. For most my age the iconic images of Spider-man come to us from the 1960's cartoon Spider-man named after the comic book. The colors were a little washed out but the action was evenly paced and the stories were ripped right from the comics.
One of the most memorable things from this show was the theme song, every spider-man theme song since then as well as the in show music always tries to match the resonance of it. For the most part spider-man didn't really change in look for the better part of 30 years. Even in the 1980's Spider-man and his Amazing friends Peter Parker looked the same, the funny part about the show is that Iceman was and X-man and while for the show Fire Star was also an X-man in the comics she was a Hellion, a ward of the Hell Fire Club and one the X-men's biggest rival. It was also an interesting mix because Spider-man and Ice man are both seen as "class clowns" so the two were always playing off each other. There was also a running joke because Ice man and Fire Star can pretty much to quick changes anywhere where as spidey has to find a place to strip.
You don't hang around for 40 plus years, sell tons of merch, become a favorite of people around the world and don't sooner or later get placed onto the small screen. Spider-mans quirky mannerism, flippant conversations and determination has made him a beloved cartoon character for generations. For most my age the iconic images of Spider-man come to us from the 1960's cartoon Spider-man named after the comic book. The colors were a little washed out but the action was evenly paced and the stories were ripped right from the comics.
One of the most memorable things from this show was the theme song, every spider-man theme song since then as well as the in show music always tries to match the resonance of it. For the most part spider-man didn't really change in look for the better part of 30 years. Even in the 1980's Spider-man and his Amazing friends Peter Parker looked the same, the funny part about the show is that Iceman was and X-man and while for the show Fire Star was also an X-man in the comics she was a Hellion, a ward of the Hell Fire Club and one the X-men's biggest rival. It was also an interesting mix because Spider-man and Ice man are both seen as "class clowns" so the two were always playing off each other. There was also a running joke because Ice man and Fire Star can pretty much to quick changes anywhere where as spidey has to find a place to strip.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Sequels vs Remakes/Reboots: Spider-man Pt. 1
As I am sure many have heard by now next year a new Spiderman movie will be released that is going to restart the entire Spidey Universe for Sony. The movie is titled "The Amazing Spiderman" after the long running comic of the same name. Now while there has been some complaining about the new movie I want to look back at how we got to this point, because especially for us Marvel Fans spidey was a culmination of years of wants, dreams and disappointments.
The Comics
Through the years if you were a spidey fan you have probably heard of the following titles: the Amazing Spider-man, the Spectacular Spider-man, Web of Spider-man, Ultimate Spider-man Peter Parker has been swinging through the streets of New York in his red and blue PJ's for the better part of 50 years. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko brought us these wonderful tales of the Queens New Yorker with the extreme case of the guilties starting in 1963. Peter Parker is a straight "A" student, slight in build, high in intelligence, awkward, and seemingly out of place. Peter stays with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker, because something happened to his parents when he was a young child. One fateful night Peter takes a trip to Empire University to see a demonstration of nuclear energy.
The Comics
Through the years if you were a spidey fan you have probably heard of the following titles: the Amazing Spider-man, the Spectacular Spider-man, Web of Spider-man, Ultimate Spider-man Peter Parker has been swinging through the streets of New York in his red and blue PJ's for the better part of 50 years. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko brought us these wonderful tales of the Queens New Yorker with the extreme case of the guilties starting in 1963. Peter Parker is a straight "A" student, slight in build, high in intelligence, awkward, and seemingly out of place. Peter stays with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker, because something happened to his parents when he was a young child. One fateful night Peter takes a trip to Empire University to see a demonstration of nuclear energy.
I guess it's better to write whats on your mind than to try and force it
While I have quite a few posts languishing in draft at the moment I am doing a post for the "Sequels vs Remakes and Reboots" series focusing on Spider-man, one of my favorite comic book characters. For those who don't know Sony Pictures is Rebooting their Spider-man movie series starting back from the beginning with Peter Parker in high school. The name of the movie is "the Amazing Spider-man" after the long running comic of the same name. Supposedly it is taking a slightly darker tone more along the lines of the Ultimate Series, and one of the things I'm happy about is a return to the Web Shooters which are an iconic part of the Spider-man universe.
Geektyrant and Thinkhero as usual have great coverage with many different vids, images and opinions on the entire process from the initial news of Spider-man 4 being canceled for the reboot to the casting of the new Peter Parker, to high res images and video clips. Of course some people are upset about the change from Tobey Macguire and Sam Raimi to Andrew Garfield and Marc Webb. but in my eyes the reboot allows us to see some of the iconic Spider-man villians re-imagined, brought back to life, or brought into the timeline. I won't deny I have always HATED the Gobby costume from the first movie, I thought it look stupid and forced almost as if they were trying to upgrade not only spider-man's origin but also his villains costumes. For the first movie nah it didn't work not at all, it was just a disaster, I loved Doc Ock's costume in the second one, Sandman's costume was pretty good too, Venom Sucked and Gobby Jr, was meh. So as far as I am concerned Sam Raimi was 3-2 and 1 with costumes. Spidey's costume was good, Gobby's costume sucked, Doc Oc was good, Sandman was good, Venom SUCKED, and Harry/Gobby jr was in the middle he was supposed to be wearing the original goblin costume but in real life he probably would have had an updated costume with better functionality made. So I will let that one be a push.
Geektyrant and Thinkhero as usual have great coverage with many different vids, images and opinions on the entire process from the initial news of Spider-man 4 being canceled for the reboot to the casting of the new Peter Parker, to high res images and video clips. Of course some people are upset about the change from Tobey Macguire and Sam Raimi to Andrew Garfield and Marc Webb. but in my eyes the reboot allows us to see some of the iconic Spider-man villians re-imagined, brought back to life, or brought into the timeline. I won't deny I have always HATED the Gobby costume from the first movie, I thought it look stupid and forced almost as if they were trying to upgrade not only spider-man's origin but also his villains costumes. For the first movie nah it didn't work not at all, it was just a disaster, I loved Doc Ock's costume in the second one, Sandman's costume was pretty good too, Venom Sucked and Gobby Jr, was meh. So as far as I am concerned Sam Raimi was 3-2 and 1 with costumes. Spidey's costume was good, Gobby's costume sucked, Doc Oc was good, Sandman was good, Venom SUCKED, and Harry/Gobby jr was in the middle he was supposed to be wearing the original goblin costume but in real life he probably would have had an updated costume with better functionality made. So I will let that one be a push.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
I didn't mention it because I was hoping it would GO THE HELL AWAY
If you have been observing the weather channel as of late you will notice that the devil appears to be enjoying a nice long vacation. By that I mean down here in the midsouth hot is a damn understatement, it was 106 yesterday, let me repeat that it was ONE HUNDRED AND SIX DEGREES yesterday(yes for only like 2 hours between noon and 3 pm but ahem the 104 it was residing at for the rest of the damn day was no freakin' peach either) now I don't know about you but last time I checked this wasn't the Mojave and I was trying to enter the world of Rango. I know this used to be the doorstep to the old wild west but that was then and dammit this is now, Land of the AC home of the slushie. I shouldn't walk out my front door and immediately begin sweating like I just ran 2 miles.
There's warm
There's Hot
There's too hot
And there's "I'm not that idiot who doesn't believe in climate change, global warming or that we are damaging our planet so could you please quit playing and turn the air back on"
There's warm
There's Hot
There's too hot
And there's "I'm not that idiot who doesn't believe in climate change, global warming or that we are damaging our planet so could you please quit playing and turn the air back on"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
