The Social Network (Review)
I know it was several months ago since I saw the social network but was in fear that if I posted my review of the movie which reflects on Mark Zuckerberg and all my reviews end up on Facebook it would cause issues if I decided to work for that company. However I can now say I probably will not work for Facebook so I am not worried about my review
The movie opens with a young Zuckerberg sitting in a pub with his semi girlfriend who he insults her intelligence at the bar so she breaks up with him. Being mad at her he decides to go back to his dorm room at Harvard and break into all the sorority sites and do a semi hot or not scale of all the sorority girls. While sitting in the theatre at El Dorado Hills I was the only one there who understood how Zuckerberg was using perl scripts to break into the Apache web servers. It was lame security and the movie does kind of a lame job but most of the terminology and screens looked semi correct. Then asked his friend for his chess ranking algorithm to use on the women he launched facesmash.com. The site brought down the harvard network. The movie then goes to where he was in-front of the review board saying that they should thank him for finding that their network was poorly run and that the time that it took to find him was slow.
At the same time Winklevoss twins were planning a website called Harvard Connect and they found out about Mark's Facesmash site and he did it in a drunken state in a night so they hired him to make their site and they would all go into business. Mark believes that he has a better premise which he wants to do called TheFacebook which he tells his friend Eduardo about it and agrees to give thousand dollars to help start the site as well as his fraternity to spread it.
The Winklevoss twins learn about what Mark was doing and try to leave it out of the courts and want the campus president to go and shut down the site since the user base was going wild in Harvard and against the Harvard Code of Conduct (Like anti cheating policy). Mark, while sitting at a Bill Gates lecture sees some hot asian women who he coined the phrase "Facebook us" then has bathroom sex with one of the girls and then sees his former girlfriend and tells her about TheFacebook and she not being a Harvard student didn't care so Mark wanted to expand to more schools.
Mark then meets while in New York trying to get capital investors on Eduardo suggestion meet Napster co-founder Sean Parker
(Justin Timberlake, yes the irony that the music business closes Napster and the poster boy several years ago plays Sean Parker)
Parker suggests that he should shorten the name from TheFacebook to just Facebook and they should move to the bay area.
Mark being awwed by Parker takes the suggestion and moves to a house in Palo Alto and kind of threw Eduardo under the buss and Parker grows into his role and they then get headquarters which are the current headquarters and Facebook's 1 millionth member, Mark calls the cops on the party and threw Parker under the buss.
The movie shows mostly in the second part the depositions on both the suit from the Winklevoss twins after they found out that Facebook had gone global and one from Eduardo. It was interesting to see how much of a douche Mark was in the movie and if it isn't his way then it's the highway. He is portrayed very well and I believe there is more truth than fiction based on articles and attitude from the real Zuckerberg which the movie used.
The movie is slow and no action but interesting from a documentary. For a site that generates over 40% of the traffic on the internet now and integration into almost everything it is interesting to see it's origins. I recommend that people who use Facebook and CS majors should see the film and time will tell what will and had happened.
Inception (Review)
I have had lots of friends who said I should see Inception. Also one of my friends wanted me to review the movie to see what I say.
Ok so I waked in with no expectations and no issues and used a free ticket to see the movie. I will gripe about one thing and that was the theatre which I love didn't play trailers but no big deal.
The movie is a total Mind FUCK!
Inception is basically trying to make a dream be a real thing so that a person believes they thought the idea and that it is not a fake. The movie is about Leo DiCaprio character goes in to steal information from people's dreams but faces his own daemons from is deceased wife memory. He then gets recruited by a asian man to try to plant in a CEO of a Energy Company to sell his empire so he could rule instead of the other guy.
Were most of the movie goes in and gets good is when DiCaprio and his team plan to go 3 levels deep in this CEO mind and make it seem he is betrayed by his uncle and his father wanted him to sell the company. Well things don't go well and there is lots of talk about going into limbo which means you never wake up. Well instead of 3 levels deep they actually go 4 and boy is it interesting but then a let down. The movie does a twist at the end which reminds me of the scene in Star Trek 5 "ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT" you know what i mean. (Life might be a dream).
After watching this movie the ending reminds me of repo men which was just released which has the same type of end and it's strange how close they were. I recommend the movie if you want a MIND FUCK but otherwise it is semi slow and has that Batman: Dark Night feeling which is long but good special effects for a dream movie.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Review)
I have now seen the 3 Twilight Films and don't get why people are so darn into these movies and compare it to Harry Potter.
I was thinking of seeing the Last Airbender but several of my friends (Ash, Tyler R) thought the movie sucked so I decided to take my 2nd Toy Story 3 ticket to see Eclipse.
Let me preface with I was expecting this movie to have more action since there was suppose to be a war between Victoria newborn Vampire Army and the Cullens with the Wolves helping but the war was only about 15 minutes of the 2hr movie. So for you guys thinking there would be more action then the last Twilight film your mistaken.
The movie is first showing how a guy named Riley Biers which we find out later who was from Forks but now lives in Seattle was attacked by Victoria about 1 year earlier and she has him create the Vampire army to avenge the death of her real lover James. So there are lots of little scenes throughout showing him getting other Vampires and trying to teach them to get blood and not be super conspicuous.
The other parts and most of the time is spent on the proposal of Bella since she knows that she is going to marry Edward and wants to do it after graduation but hasn't said yes to the proposal. Eventhough I remember her saying yes at the end of New Moon. So lots of time are wasted on her constant Edward changing her garbage as well as Jacob being more jealous and sensing Bella also loves him so he tries to force a kiss and she trys to slug him. So lots of back in forth on the love.
The only interesting parts to the movie is that Bella want to loose her virginity before she marries and Edward is "old school" and Edward and Bella go see Bella's mom for a week. Also Bella graduates high school and we learn the backstories of Rosalie and Jasper and Jasper helps organize both the vampires and the werewolves like a general.
The fighting is fast and only Jacob gets hurt.
The movie is slow throughout and really was just as boring if not worse than New Moon. I only suggest this movie to women because they love the boring dribble of romance and even the hotness wasn't as hot in this film.
Toy Story 3 (Review)
I would have posted this review earlier but Supreet wanted me not to spoil the movie by making a review so I waited but now is the time to talk about Toy Story 3.
It has been 10.5 yrs since Toy Story 2 has come out and they tried to keep Any's age in the timeline. The movie starts with Andy preparing to go to college. The toys are all in the big toy chest and want to be played with so they have the sarge are the last 2 paratroopers steal Andy's cell phone and they have the cordless house phone and they call his cell phone so he has to get it. Rex is the one holding it and Andy digs through the chest and finds it and gets mad at Molly for putting it there but doesn't play with the toys. Sarge and his 2 troops decide it's hopeless and they go AWOL by flying out the window. Woody tries to instill confidence that they will be put in the attic for Andy's kids to play with them but most of them are worried because over the years they have lost their friends like Bo, Mr. Spell, Weezy and other in Yard Sales or trash and they don't want to go. Quickly Andy interrupts their meeting and Andy's mom comes in saying to Andy you need to pack for college and either items go to college or go to the attic or the trash. Andy first hesitates but then decides to work so puts the toys in a garbage bag except for Woody he puts him in the college box and starts to go to the attic to put them away but Molly needs help so Andy puts the bag down and Andy's mom trips on it thinking it's trash. Woody sees it all and calls buster but he is now old and fat so he goes it alone to save the toys from being trashed but they escape. Molly had a box of toys that were going to the Sunnyside Daycare so the toys decide to do the same. Thinking at least they will get played with and Woody tries to tell them what happened but they don't listen.
They arrive at Sunnyside and get placed in the Butterfly room and they meet all the toys and the toy in charge named Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear (Lotso for short) he is a big stuffed bear that smells like strawberry's. They also meet Ken and he and Barbie fall in love. Lotso shows the toys that they can have a lovely life and be played with forever. The toys seem happy but Lotso tells them that they must be placed in the Caterpillar room which to find out is for little kids and they abuse the toys. Woody in the meantime decides to go home to Andy but ends up at a little girls house Bonnie. Bonnie's toys are nice and we find out the real backstory to Lotso and why he treats toys like prisoners. The rest of Andy's toys decide to have Buzz to go ask Lotso to be moved back to the Butterfly room but also learns the truth of the prison that Lotso is running. Lotso and his men capture Buzz and they have a copy of his manual and decide to put him back to demo mode. So now Buzz is working for Lotso because Lotso told Buzz he is a general in Star Command and that the rest of Andy's toys are agents of Emperor Zurg..Return of the "Astro Nut".
Woody returns to Sunnyside to help break out his friends and Mrs. Potatohead knows that Andy's looking for them because her other eye is still in his room. Woody gets help from a telephone toy on how Lotso runs his security and they toys go through this elaborate plan to change Buzz back and get out. Things start off well but instead of changing Buzz back to normal they somehow get him into Spanish mode..Then they get to the garbage shute to get out but Lotso stops them and Woody tells the rest of the Sunnyside toys the truth about Lotso from his past and Lotso friend Big Baby throws him in.
Woody then get pulled in to the garbage and all of Andy's toys go in and they all end up at the county dump. Woody saves Lotso but he doesn't return the favor. Basically seemed like the toys would be destroyed but the Potatohead kids and "the claw" save the toys. They head home and Andy is happy to have them back. He then decides to put them in the attic but Woody writes a note suggesting they go to Bonnie. Andy then takes them to Bonnie and they play with the toys and he leaves for college.
The movie had me crying like a little kid for the last 20 minutes because of almost loosing the toys as well as Andy leaving and saying goodbye to them..Made me remember my childhood and how it is after you grow up. Most people will cry except for kids. I recommend to the older crowed and there was jokes that no kid would get but we would especially with how the show made Ken seem gay...I really suggest everyone see Toy Story 3
Iron Man 2 (Review)
I am IRON MAN! That is what starts Iron Man 2, the press conference from the first movie. I am a huge fan of the first movie but was disappointed in the sequel because it is not as action packed and the villain is not that strong.
The movie starts in Russia were we learn that the Arc Reactor is built by not just by Howard Stark (Tony's father) but also by a man named Anton Vanko who was a russian physicist but was deported by Howard for selling the technology. He dies in the first few minutes and his son Ivan (played by Mickey Rourke) decides to take revenge on Tony.
Tony in the mean while is loving being Iron Man by having his Stark Expo in which he shows off the suit. He then is requested to Washington DC to a senate hearing to give up the Iron Man technology to the US Government but he shows that the terrorists and their countries are about 5-10 years before we have to worry about it. He even shows that is competitor HAMMER INDUSTRIES is even further behind and that he has created world peace in Iron Man.
We then learn that his own Arc Reactor that is keeping him alive is also killing him because the metal which they call (palladium) is poising his body and since he is busy trying to find a solution to not to die and being Iron Man he decides to promote Peper Potts his assistant to the position of CEO.
We then are off to Monaco where Tony decides to race in the Grand Prix but during the race Vanko who in-between has been building a arc reactor with whips to become whiplash. Tony gets attacked and becomes Iron Man via a briefcase and stops Vanko. He knows that Tony is dying because the metal and is in a french jail.
Tony then goes home and learns about Anton and the original arc reactor while Ivan is busted out of jail by Hammer to build new Suited Iron Men. However Ivan wants autonomous robot Iron Men like the ones in Star Wars. Tony then has his birthday party and gets wild and Rhodes puts on the Iron Man suit to stop tony which destroys Tony's house and Peper locks Tony out of his company for being wild.
Tony then goes on a self-distructive phase like Superman 2 did and then we meet Nick Furry (Samuel L Jackson) again and tells Tony that the arc reactor is for something even bigger his father was working on. He tells Tony that it will save his life. Tony then discovers that his father did leave clues to it and he makes a new element and saves his life.
Then back at the expo Hammer shows off is drones and they then go a muck and so does the suit that Rhoddy took because it's being controlled by Ivan. After about 15-20 minute battle from the drones and Rhoddy and then finally Ivan, Iron Man saves the day.
The problem I have with the movie is that there is no strong villain. Ivan is suppose to be the villain but seems like a weak one compared to Obadiah Stane in the first movie (Jeff Bridges). Also Justin Hammer seemed like a idiot when it came to things which I was surprised he is suppose to be a weapon maker. Furthermore, the movie was talk talk talk about really nothing. I mean Robert Downey Jr. plays the great self loving Tony Stark but the comedy and sexual innuendoes can be given without being boring. I mean most of the movie wasn't as action packed as the first. There was maybe 3 scenes of action the race, the party, then the end. I mean it could have been instead of a 2hr 4min movie only 45 minutes at the most of just action and the rest of just boring dribble that might pertain if you read all the Iron Man comics but I am not a die hard Iron Man fan.
Otherwise the effects were good but I wouldn't call this the blockbuster of the summer. I would say this was another movie to prepare for the Avengers Movie that is coming in the next couple of years.
Alice in Wonderland (Review)
Tim Burton of course likes weird versions of remakes, like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory and Planet of the Apes and 9/10 times he likes to have Johnny Depp in his movies as well. This time Burton goes to Alice in Wonderland.
First off this is not totally a remake but a continuation story of the original Alice in Wonderland based on the Lewis Carroll novel and the Cartoon movie done by Walt Disney. Instead of Alice being a little girl going down the rabbit hole to a world of imagination she is being asked for her hand in marriage and goes back down the rabbit hole and believes the first time was a dream and didn't realize it was real and she goes through about the same stupid things she did before except she is in love with the Mad Hatter. She saves Wonderland again and goes back to the real world and decides to become an explorer.
The movie was in 3D and I decided to see it in 3D but not IMAX. The 3D is not 100% needed and is semi cool in the Wonderland scenes but was not a good as Avatar and the CGI looked fake but being a imagination story I didn't need believability.
The acting was what got me. Johnny Depp portrayal of the mad hatter was like watch the crazy scenes in Pirates 3 of Jack Sparrow going mad and I felt like the battle would have been cool with Pirates. (lol) However there were times when he also would act like Wonka being weird, so it was a half breed characterization but really seemed like he didn't put much spin into the mad hatter. Also the English dress in the movie looked like they reused the Pirates dress and in the end Alice goes out to sea to China, It made me feel like she was Elizabeth Swan in Love with Jack but ends up with Will but in ALICE IN WONDERLAND. NO ORIGINALITY, DISNEY.
The movie other than feeling like a alternate rehash of Pirates or a sub sequel was blah otherwise. I did like the Blue Caterpillar being played by Alan Rickman good role but I think snape all the time which sucks but was good at the role. I give it 2.5 stars for being something that could have been cool but turned out to be all effects which could have been better.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Review)
Before starting this review I have to say I haven't read the book series so I was walking in with very little knowledge and expectations.
The movie starts with Percy Jackson a 12 year boy who believes he has ADHD and Dyslexia. His mother lives with the guy in the first matrix who kills everyone and is a creep in this movie too. He has a paralyzed friend who he and his friend go to the museum for a class field trip and finds out his substitute teacher is a hydra trying to kill him. His friend helps defend him and to find out he is actually not paralyzed but is a saytr. He takes him to a camp made up of Demi Gods and we find that he is the son of Poseidon. The gods believe that he has stolen Zeus lightening bolt and Hades wants the bolt to over through Zeus and Poseidon. Therefore Percy goes on a quest to hell to tell Hades that he doesn't have the bolt by facing Medusa and other challenges and learns that Hermes son is the one who stoled the bolt and wanted to blame Percy so there would be a war.
The movie was directed by Christopher Columbus who did Home Alone 1 &2 as well as the first 2 Harry Potter Movies.
The forrest scenes reminded me of the same forrest from Potter and the kid looked like he was trying to have the Zach Efron look from High School Musical and has a product placement for iPod Touch which was interesting. Otherwise the movie was good but there was some long parts however in the end the hero saves the day.
I would recommend the movie if you want a cool Harry Potterish movie and if you have kids. I wanted to see a good story movie and this has it however the CG work is not 100 perfect but it is about gods and greek mythology.
Up in the Air (Review)
The new Year rings in and Akshat and David and I wanted to get together and do something. We decided to have dinner and watch a movie. After having my first experience at a Persian restaurant and having a good trout. It was time to figure out what movie and where. Both myself and Akshat had seen Avatar and I wanted to see Alvin and the Chipmunks I was told that it was a stupid movie it was decided to see a Chick Flick. I still don't know why but I had no problems. We went to the century on Howe and it was busy, but 10.25 for a movie there sucks when I could go to Regal and Paladio and have a nicer seat and not a crappy projector. I also have to say this but the 2 teens next to me were making out and were feeling each other up which I was not trying to watch them but it couldn't be helped.
I as digress Up in the Air stars George Clooney. He is a guy who works for a company to fire people when the company that people work for cannot. Think the 2 consultants from Office Space to improve productivity. Well that is George Clooney role but not to improve productivity just to fire people. He flies from city to city for about 300 days a year just firing people and doing it in a way that will not provoke a lawsuit and making people feel that they might have a chance to get another job. Everything is great until he learns going back to his headquarters in Omaha NE that they hired a young girl who has created a way to fire people over the internet and that it would save the company millions in travel expenses not to fly people around to fire people. Clooney trying to be hip says its like firing people with iChat. To show the company that it takes more he goes with the girl around showing how he fires people. She learns that it does take more and pushes Clooney to try and have a real life. He is in love with a women who flies as much as him and is like him but with a vagina as the move states. Well the iChat thing goes and then is decided it doesn't work and he is in love and decides to see the women outside of the flying scenes and finds out she is married and has kids. The movie ends with Clooney reaching his goal which is a fantasy it doesn't happen in life but making 1million miles on American Alines and is the 7th person to do it and gets special rewards.
The movie is a good story but yes it is a chick flick but at least it does have it's funny moments and for only being 1.6 hrs it goes fast. I would recommend if you want a cute and somewhat sad because of firing everyone story but it is good. And at least the 2 teens next to me thought it was good for what they were doing too.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Review)
My aunt and I had postponed seeing this movie twice. We both were going to see it alone but since she was coming home for Christmas I suggested we should see it together and then we both got sick so had to postpone again. So on Christmas Day we decided to see it the next day. She has read all the books in the Twilight Saga and I have not expect since I was curious I did read the book synopsis on WIkipedia several weeks back. I got into Twilight on Black Friday when Wal-Mart had the first movie DVD for 5.00 so I decided to buy it since it is a Fad and wanted to see what it is all about.
New Moon picks up right after Twilight. Bella is turning 17 years old and wants her Vampire Boyfriend Edward to change her so she will not be older then him physically. He declines because he wants her to age and not have the burden of being a Vampire. Later on she is having a party with Edward and his Vampire Family and she opens her birthday card and gets a paper cut which causes Jasper to try to attack Bella, Edward stops and causes Bella to cut her arm even worse. Because he is afraid for Bella he decides to leave her and go live in Italy with the Volturi. Meanwhile Bella is really depressed that she believe that she can see Edward if she does dangerous stuff. She convinces her friend Jacob to build BMX style bikes. She notices that he has bulked up and starts to fall for him. He is upset because his guy friends are acting weird and hanging around with a guy named Sam and never wear shirts and have a tattoo. Well Bella and Jacob mid movie are about to kiss at a movie theatre and Jacob leaves saying he is not feeling well. Later on we are told that it was mono. Bella goes to investigate and sees that Jacob is outside in the rain is shirtless and has cut his hair and also has the same tattoo that his friends have and is now friends with them again. Bella then discovers that Jacob is a Werewolf and that Vampires and Werewolf's don't get along. Bella is being hunted by Victoria from the first film and Jacob and his fellow wolves help to protect her. The movie then goes to Bella going to Italy to save Edward because he thinks she is dead.
The movie is ok, yes the big thing is Jacob is hot but that only applies if your a girl. I didn't care either way if he was shirtless for most of the film. The film also reminded me of a modern day of Romeo and Juliet and which Edward tries to kill himself because he thinks Bella is dead and Bella is not. The only thing was both didn't die. The special effects like changing Jacob to a wolf were good but the movie is all about love and being 2.1 hrs it could have been shorter, I would recommend for a couple to make out or if a teenage girl wanting to see a shirtless due in it but otherwise boring though most of it.
Avatar (Review)
I decided that since everyone was on a big hype to see Avatar and since the 3D is supposed to be the thing in this movie then I should see it in IMAX 3D. The only movie I had seen in IMAX 3D was Under the Sea in Seattle and I really liked the experience. So I decided to shell out the 15 bones for it at EDH which is not a real IMAX screen and got a pair of really goofy glasses which were not as good as the ones in Seattle and sat down.
I had no pre-conceved notion of what the movie was about. All I knew was it had tall blue aliens and Sigourney Weaver was in it and it was Directed by James Cameron and the movie cost a large amount of money to make.
The movie starts with a guy who is at a funeral parlor talking to 2 men about taking his brothers place on a project, he would make a large amount of money in which the world has a crappy economy like our current one so he could maybe one day be able to walk again. We then learn he is going to a world called Pandora (yes like the music service) to work for a company called RDA who is trying to mine the planet for a fuel or energy mineral to make millions on earth. So the guy whos name is Jake Sully arrives and finds out that his brother was working with the Science team to be able to talk to the local population on Pandora called the Na'vi. Sigourney is the lead scientist and really doesn't like Jake. Jake on the first day enters this chamber that looks like a Tanning Bed and his brain signals are downloaded to this Avatar that looks like a Na'vi. The 2nd day he is separated and actually ends up with the Na'vi and they almost kill him but decide since he doesn't know anything that they will teach him. He is taught by the chiefs daughter and they fall in love and he actually become a Na'vi and fights against the corporation to leave them alone.
After watching the 2.6 hr film I thought the movie was slow in some parts. The mythical world and the 3D were a good thing but some scenes the CG look so-so. The problem I had with the movie was that the whole Video Recording of his life while not in his Avatar body reminded me of Aliens and also having Sigourney and these blue creatures added to that Alien feeling but not in the evil way. The love story though reminded me so much of Titanic that I was ready to gag. (Yes I have watched Jack and Rose and the ship sinking way too much that I actually cheer when Jack dies). But as I digress the movie is not the best I have seen and it is a lot of hype, true that the technique to make the Na'vi was a new one but I wouldn't have done it that way. Also the ending is wide open for a sequel which is lame because I wouldn't want one. I would suggest taking a girl and you and her might like it but alone and being a dude it is lame.
2012 (Review)
Now most of you might have seen my review on the Paladio 16 theatre and if you haven't it is also on my blog and yelp (echusa.yelp.com) It is now time to talk about the movie I saw there.
2012 is a disaster movie that is based on the belief that the Myans predicted the end of the world in which Director Rolland Emmerich who has done Independence Day, Day after Tommorow has lots of experience in this type of film. The premise is that the earths core is heating up due to neutrinos from the sun causing the mantle to move. The movie is around the main character played by John Cusack he is a writer who has published a book but no one really buys it so he works as a limo driver. He is divorced and has 2 kids. His wife is living with a Hollywood Plastic Surgon who does boob jobs. He and his kids go camping in Yellowstone park and notice that most of the park is fenced in by the US Military to do scientific research. He then meets is nutter played by Woody Harrelson who tells him that the true meaning. Well when he is returning home he realizes that the nutter is correct and the world is coming to the end and goes to save his family. They end up getting a plane and head towards Yellowstone to get the map to where the government is supposed to be building according to the nutter a rocketship to save humanity but in actually the government in secret without telling the public has been building 7 arcs. Like the ones Noah had but made out of steel and really high tech. The plans of the government was to save the animals, goverment officials, arts and other world valuables and then who ever was rich enough could also come as well. To make a long 2.5 hr movie short after fighting they get to the arc and the people who made it are saved. What was funny is Danny Glover is the present Thomas Willson who they are portraying Barack Obama but the name Thomas Willson is actually Woodrow Willsons first name which was ironic.
The movie is a fast paced long movie and is very entertaining which is why I give it 3.5 stars however the CG work is very predominate and is not that great looking but what do you want from a Disaster movie.
Star Trek (Review) Looking back at my site I cannot believe that Star Trek 10 (Nemesis) was released and I blogged about the movie. Nemesis Review "Star Trek" aka Star Trek 11 or Reboot is a really interesting story. Before I continue let me preface that this movie for a die hard trekkie must do one thing first. Read Star Trek Countdown Amazon it explains the backstory before seeing the movie on the villan Nero and all the events that lead upto this movie. Now for the Non-Trekkies this movie is fine by itself. The movie at 2 hrs and 6 minutes is the longest trek yet. It also is the most different trek in which trekkies might not like, however will still believe that it is trek. Starting off we meet a Romulan named Nero who is from the Future, he attacks the USS Kelvin under the command of Captain Robau and the ship is attacked. He turns over Command to George Kirk (James Kirk Father) the Kelvin is destroyed but Jim is born. Then we meet Spock as a child and kirk as a child and then move on to adulthood. We lean that Spock lets his foolish Human Emotions interfere with is Vulcan Logic. Whereas Kirk is totally wild and fly's by the seat of his pants. Well with lots of twists and turns Kirk becomes the Captain of the enterprise and Nero is stopped. (I don't want to give the whole movie away). Here is my evaluation, I am giving it 4.5 out of 5 because it is really good even though it replaces the last 40 years of Star Trek of a future that is now unwritten. The Acting and Special Effects were great the only concern with the new cast is Simon Pegg (Scotty) he acts more wierd than I remember scotty from the TOS days. However I have to give Karl Urban & Anton Yelchin for sounding and really acting like their previous counterparts. I also love the quotes that made me appreciate the last 40 years of trek. Overall great move and might be the hit of the summer, however Harry Potter is in July.
Ocean's 13 (Review) About 1.5 years has passed since Oceans 12 came out. In Oceans 13 we find out that Rubin has went into partnership with William Bank (Al Pacino) and Bank has decided after he uses Rubin's connections for a new hotel, to cut Rubin out of the deal. Also has Rubin sign over the land to Bank so that he owns everything, and Rubin uses that since they both shook Sinatra's hand he shouldn't be double crossed, but Bank says fuck Sinatra. So being betrayed and ruined Rubin has a heart attack. So Danny Ocean and his crew decide to get revenge for Rubin. They decide to make it so that Bank's hotel is a loss. Instead of just plain old robbing it like they did to Benedict they decide to rig everything so everyone wins. The only problem is the security system is a computer that cannot be hacked nor beaten. It checks pupil dilation and heart rate based on winnings and also checks the computer odds from the machines and tables. So it causes a problem. Ocean's team figures out that they can create a seismic tremor and that the building would act like a tuning fork and shut down the computer for 3 minutes. The problem is the drill they bought broke, so they turn to Terry Benedict for the money. Benedict wanted one thing besides the money back with 50% interest, he wanted Ocean to steal Bank's 5 Diamond Hotel award necklaces, which Bank got for every other property he owned. Ocean agrees and they use Benedict to rope in Bank for a part of the plan. Well after all the usual they got away with the diamonds and the money and gave Rubin another piece of property and even paid back Benedict and look for a Oprah appearance. This new Ocean's movie was better than 12 but used people from 12 to make it happen. So keep that in mind. I still think that Ocean's 11 is the best movie yet but this is a close second and the only reason why is that some scenes were boring but not that boring.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Review) So its been about a year since the last adventure of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. So as we know Capt Jack Sparrow was lost to Davey Jones locker and Captn. Barbosa is alive. This 3 hour movie is a lot better than the last Pirates. First we find out that we are still in the orient and Barbosa needs the 9 Pirate lords to be able to release clypso which is the witch who brought back Barbosa and inorder to have the pirate lords Jack Sparrow is one of them. So they travel to Davey Jones locker to retireve Jack and then there are lots of subplots and backstabbing in trades. We also know that Lord Beckett and the East India Company have Davey Jones' heart and is giving Davey Jones' orders. Well lets just say, Jack is alive and rides off into the sunset to find the fountain of youth leaving the saga open for another movie. While Davey Jones dies, clypso is freed, Elizabeth is a pirate captain and pirate king. Will Turner is the new captian of the flying dutchman and Lord Beckett is killed. Also Will and Elizabeth are married by Barbosa during the major fight. The movie has lots of comic re-leaf because jack has muliple personalities. Also the battle scenes are vast and Elizabeth even gives a fight scene speach that sounded like it came from Independece Day. The movie is long but it does go fast and is in my opinion the best pirates movie so far.
Spider-Man 3 (Review) Spider Man 3, the whole 2 years that this film has been done and reshot might have been better with the test audiences but still boring in most parts. The CGI work that sony does for these movies is great but like the last two spider man's not much in plot. This movie starts with Peter Parker going to ask Mary Jane to marry him. Mary Jane is in a broadway play but then loses the part because of bad reviews. Peter is at an all time high because he is going to get the key's to the city as Spider Man. (Look for Spider Man creator Stan Lee talking to Peter at Time Square) First Peter fights his best friend Harry Osborn (AKA Gobilin Jr) and Harry loses and then has amnesia. Then Spider man learns that his uncles killer is not the man he killed in Spider Man 1 but it is Flint Marko the sand man creature they fight and Spider man thinks he wins there as well. Then this goo from a meteor comes down to earth and attaches itself to Peter which helps him fight Osborn again and Flint Marko and turns him to evil. He resists and Eddie Brock another photographer for the Daily Bugle looses his job and then becomes evil Venom. The Sand Man and Venom capture Mary Jane and Peter and Osborn hook up to fight them. Venom is killed Goblin/Osborn is killed and Sand man is forgiven and Peter and Mary Jane dance lovely off the screen. The movie seemed to be based on Othello, Shakespeares ideas that a man at his high point then has something major happen looses everything then is gaining back then looses again but in Othello it stays that way, whereas Spider man actually goes back to normal but it leaves open the idea of Spider man 4. This franchise will stay especially with marketing but the movies are Blah. Well that is my first blockbuster for the summer. Look forward to Shrek 3, Simpsons, Live Free Die Hard, Harry Potter: Order of the Pheonix, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ocean's Thirteen, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. So I will be at the theatre alot. Until then 2 more weeks of school to go.
TMNT (Review) (TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Ok so in the 80's I was a young boy and had my turtle pajama's and was a real big fan of the turtles. I remeber them like yesterday, it least it wasn't gay like Power Rangers. So getting back to turtles I loved them, especially Michaelango. I liked that he was the goofball and loved pizza. He always reminds me of Bart Simpson, cawabunga. (LOL) So after the 3 turtle films and 20 years the turtles are back, now it isn't live action like the previous movies nor is it cartoon like the original but it's CGI. The other thing with these turtles is the voices. First Donatello and Michaelango sound the same and so does April Oneil but Raphael and Splinter as well as Casey didn't sound the same at all. Leonardo was the mystery because in some senes he sounded like the old Leo but in others he sounded different. This turtles movie starts a couple of years after the last turtle movie and Leo is in South America learning to be a better leader and April comes down to get some archilogical statue and convinces Leo to come back to New York. Max Winters is a rich general who lived 3,000 years ago and opened some dimentional portal that turned his generals to stone and immortal and released 13 monsters which he wants to reverse. The turtles along with the footclan (AKA Shredder's Soldiers) Help this Winters guy reverse what he did. The movie has some good action and some action that looked like combinations of the Matrix and LOTR. It was interesting seeing Patrick Stewart play this Winters character and the movie was enjoying not as good as turtles 1+2 but a lot better than 3.
Peaceful Warrior (Review) The other day when buying my weekly movies Best Buy had a coupon to see Peaceful Warrior free this weekend. All I had to do was go online and print the movie stubs. I just got back and thought this movie was inspiring. It must be my day for Inspiring movies because I also watched the "Pursuit of Happyness" yes I said Happyness not spelled right but the movie explains why. Getting back to Peaceful Warrior, it is a movie about a UC Berkley Gymnast about my age who drinks a lot, fucks anytime he wants and lives a carefree life. His only goal is to win the gold at the olympics and is close to doing so. Until he met Socrates (Nick Note) and learned that life doesn't have to be about being the best and that all that junk doesn't matter, what matters is that your passion and drive to the process of getting your dream is more important. The guy is then in a motorcyle accident and then has to recover which is what most of the movie is about. The transition from a life of no meaning or purpose to a life of total purpose and meaning. The movie is boring in some parts but is really emotional. I am not saying chick flick but it is interesting, would recommend. Well I am planning to end my week with TMNT so until tomorrow's review.
Rocky Balboa (Review) Yo this is Marcus reporting about the new movie which would be the 6th Rocky entitled Rocky Balboa. The only problem with this review is someone knocked out the power at the movie theater about 1/2 way throughout the film and I didn't have much to talk about since most of it is about feelings and not much went on. SO that is why I am not giving any stars and plan to go back tonight and re-watch the entire film since I got a pass to do it. Well until then This is my review of Rocky Balboa (NOTHING)
[Update, 12/31/06] I know that it has been a couple of days since I said that I couldn't see the movie due to power failure but I went back to the theater and watched the movie. Rocky Balboa starts at Adrian's tombstone and Rocky is at the 3rd anniversary of her death, which he calls Woman Cancer. He and Pauly then go to all the places Rocky and Adrian went when they meet, IE the pet store, the ice rink and Rocky's old apartment. Rocky now owns a restaurant called Adrian's which serves Italian food, run by Mexicans. Pauly still works at the meat market and Rocky's son works for it seems like an investment firm. Robert and Rocky are not speaking that much because Robert believes his father casts a large shadow. We also meet Mason Dixon the current heavyweight champion who is hated because he hasn't ever had a drawn out dogfight. Well ESPN decides to take an idea which was done when Joe Luis and Mohammad Ali fought years ago about having a virtual fight between Mason and Rocky. The computer believes Rocky would win. Well Rocky starts to think he might have more fighting in him since his beast is upset over Adrian's death. So Rocky gets a License to fight but his thoughts are only small fights. Well Mason's managers thinking about money approach Rocky to fight Mason as a charity exhibition fight. Well not to get into specifics people thought that Rocky would go down in the first or second round but look to the original rocky against appolo for the outcome of the fight. Then he tells Pauly that his beast is gone then Rocky goes back to Adrian's grave and the walks away waving then fades out. Also I forgot to mention Rocky has a thing for Little Marrie which I believe we meet in one of the rocky movies where she said Screw you Creepo. Well she is grown and has a kid of her own called Steps which Rocky takes under his wing like the next movie might use Steps. I don't know but that is what people of the net believe. Well I thought that this rocky was a great movie better than Rocky 5 but my favorite is still rocky 4. Then this rocky, the only thing I wished was during the fight there were more flashbacks.
Casino Royale (Review) Well what can I say about Bond...James Bond. Casino Royale was the first book of Ian Flemming about James Bond which is suppose to show how James Bond got the status of 007. Well if you want to know the rest of the plot they way it is suppose to be then see the Wikipedia Article but the movie tries to follow the plot but in a bad way. First, being a fan of Bond I am used to a normality of how the movies go but in this movie things were quite different. The gun barrel looked digital and so did the oozing blood which went to the credits which were boring and so was the title theme song by Chris Cornell named You Know My Name which was mostly a bunch of cards with bond kicking the crap out of people, no women which was unusual. The movie is about a man named Le Chiffre who gets money from Africa to manipulate the stocks of an airline company by blowing up a new plane which would leave them in ruins. But Bond interferes and stops the explosion of the plane so Le Chiffre holds a game at Casino Royale of Poker where James meets Felix Lighter which in this movie is black. James wins and then learns that is love Vesper Lynd is playing both sides. The movie has a lot of dull moments and some action but not the typical of Bond, the romance was not there and the story was choppy as well as how could bond just gotten is 00 status and its 2006 so how can that be. Well the end was left for the sequal but overall I was not impressed. On the contrary the new Bond Daniel Craig was not bad of an actor but they are really trying to make him the next Sean Connery.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (Review) A week before thanksgiving and I am sick of school I decided to have a little fun by going and seeing Santa Clause 3. In this installment Santa & the Misses are going to have a baby and Mrs. Clause wants to see her folks so Santa decides to have them but in the meantime Jack Frost is causing trouble because he doesn't have a holiday. We find out that there is an escape clause and all Santa has to do is get his magic snow globe and say he doesn't want to be Santa. So Jack Frost tricks Santa into activating the escape clause which shows us why Scott Calivin's life was better as Santa. Well the movie was interesting and was not happy to see the cheesy ideas that were in Santa Clause 2 back in this film but they did use the footage from SC1 which was when Scott found the suit. The movie being that it is Disney does have a happy ending. The one thing I wished is that the alternate reality should have been longer and also Bernard is not in the story, and Curtis is now head elf. Well I think it is better than 2 but 1 is still the best. Happy Holidays, stay tune for Friday's 007 Casino Royale Review.