Disney now owns our childhood

Where were you on that fateful day, October 30, 2012?

You know the one I'm talking about. The day the earth moved, shifting on its axis, when millions of voices weren't silenced, but instead exploded onto Twitter to vent outrage or glee?

Yes, that was the day that news came out of Disney buying Lucasfilm (and all that it owns) for $4 billion.

Believe it or not, I was actually in an office meeting. I had a dead spot in the meeting while the others were looking at things that they needed to talk about and I fired up my phone and checked Twitter. I'm sure my eyes widened when I saw the first thing that popped up.

Twitter became a madhouse for the next two hours at least. The productivity of nerds (hey, that's a great name for a band!) all across the country probably plummeted toward zero at a lightning pace.

All for $4 billion.

Is this a good thing?

The Wonder of Nathan Fillion

Actors usually come in one of a couple different formats. Either they're true stars that shine off the screen no matter what they're in, where you go to see the movie or watch the TV show just because of them.

Then there are the types who successfully blend in to any script and story that they appear in. You may not be going to see the movie because of them, but you know that when you see them, they're going to give you an outstanding performance. They add to the wonder of a movie. Even if the movie or show is bad, you can at least say "this actor was good despite the material."

Then there are those who lie outside of those two boxes, or maybe they straddle both of them. They are a rare breed.

Nathan Fillion is one of these actors.

I first stumbled across Fillion in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog where he played Neil Patrick Harris' nemesis, Captain Hammer. I thought he did fine, but didn't really think anything of it.

Red Dawn - Update (North Koreans?)

Coming out on November 21 is the remake of the cult classic movie Red Dawn. I originally posted about this here around when it was first announced and when China was the villain (instead of the Soviet Union, as in the 1980s movie).

That was three years ago, and it's finally coming out.

But not without a big change. Rather ground-breaking, actually.

Yes, after Chinese outcry, they have changed the enemy from the Chinese to the North Koreans. I guess because we're not indebted to the North Koreans.

Instead, it just gets sillier.

Supposedly changing from Chinese to North Koreans just involved redoing/editing/deleting a couple of scenes and using digital technology to change the Chinese symbols to North Korean ones (you know, because all the peoople look alike and everything). Unless they digitally redressed everybody too, I'm assuming the uniforms weren't even accurate to begin with?

To me, this takes the remake from needless to stupid, with a pit stop at mystifying.

Movies - Dark Shadows and Avengers

Since this weekend is a long weekend up here in Canada (Victoria Day is today, for those of you who don't know), we decided to do a movie day yesterday. There are a bunch of movies we want to see this Summer, so why not get started!

Today's double-bill was Dark Shadows and The Avengers. We'd been wanting to see the latter since it came out but wanted to let the crowds die down a bit. Dark Shadows isn't doing very well, so who knows how long it will stay in the theater here? Avengers has been out for three weeks, so we figured it was a good time to go.

First, let me say that there are still lines for Avengers. Yes, even after three weeks! We got stuck in one, but thankfully we weren't in it for long before they let us in.

Meanwhile, I believe there were around 10-15 people at most in the 12:20 pm showing of Dark Shadows. That is not a good sign.

What did I think of the two movies? They were night and day, and not just in tone. Also in quality.

Movie Review Misogyny

Being a gamer, I know that women who show themselves online, broadcasting the fact that they are female, can bring a lot of hate, or at least just lewd come-ons.

However, you would think movie reviewing would be safe from that.

You would be wrong, at least depending on what kind of movie the woman is reviewing.

I'm greatly looking forward to the new Avengers movie that's coming out next Friday. Everything I've seen of it points to it being a kick-ass movie with lots of action and it has Joss Whedon writing and directing, so the dialogue should be great too. Basically, it's a comic book fan's dream come true in movie form.

I do realize, however, that not everybody will share that opinion. Most critics who have already seen it, however, do share it. They give the movie very good reviews.

With one exception.

Reviewer Amy Nicholson gave the movie a mediocre review, 3-stars, with some complaints about it. They certainly could be valid, though I may not agree with them after I've seen the movie. I've never read any of her reviews before, so I don't know anything about her reviewing style or anything like that. There are definitely errors pointed out in the comments, such as calling the Nick Fury character "Nick Frost" (maybe she's a Simon Pegg movie fan? And apparently she's edited the review now to correct that mistake), so there may be a reason to avoid her reviews.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because she's getting slammed for it. And many of the slams are because she's a woman. (h/t: my good friend Engima667 on Twitter)

Some of the comments are pretty vile.

Movie Review - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The original Conqeust of the Planet of the Apes is not my favourite of the original Ape movies, thus making it a prime candidate for a remake, this time being called Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Thankfully, the remake is everything the original wasn't, which includes "good." Yes, there were definitely problems with the movie, but overall, it was a very enjoyable experience.

Unless you're squeamish about animal testing, that is.

Will Rodman (Jamie Franco) has created a new drug that could cure Alzheimer's Disease, and of course it has to be tested on animals before it can proceed to human trials. In the chimps, it seems to have heightened the intelligence in at least one case, along with fighting the disease. The chimp, affectionately called Bright Eyes, goes berserk just as Rodman is presenting his findings to the board for more funding for human trials. Bright Eyes' son is found in her cage, and Rodman smuggles him out to take care of him, naming him Caesar. Caesar (played wonderfully by that motion capture genius, Andy Serkis) has even more intelligence than Bright Eyes did, and lives a happy life with Rodman until things go horribly wrong. Caesar will end up leading his fellow apes to safety, perhaps a precursor of an Ape society that will rise in the future?

(Thanks to Shopping Blog)

Captain America - Movie Review

Captain America is one of the oldest superheroes around, almost as old as Batman. He's long been a fighter for "truth, justice, and the American way" (though granted, that's Superman's byline, Cap has also fit that profile). I was really into comic books for a long time, and while admittedly he was never my favourite character, I've always had a certain respect for him.

(Thanks to Smurfin' the Web)

With Marvel Comics creating their own movie studio and making a series of superhero films that will culminate in next year's Avengers movie, you knew that Cap would be one of the mainstays of it. That would be Captain America: The First Avenger. The question was, would director Joe Johnston, following the typical Hollywood lead, water down Cap's patriotism to make him more a "man of the world" with deliberate moral ambiguity and a denial of who Cap really is? And even if he didn't, would the movie just suck?

Thankfully, I can say that the answer to both question is a resounding "no."

Hey! Where's the Ending???

Don't you hate it when you're reading a book, and it just suddenly stops? Does it make you want to throw the book against the wall?

No, I'm not talking about a badly written book with an ending that makes no sense.

I'm talking about a book where the ending is totally removed.

"Never happen!" you say?

Think again.

Catherine Hardwicke, of the Twilight movie franchise fame (at least the first one), has a new movie coming out. Called Red Riding Hood, it brings back the "latent sexuality" of the original fairy tale, a supernatural story (hopefully there will be no vampire fangs and much more skin pigment in this one) that re-tells the classic tale for a modern audience.

But according to Macleans magazine (this is the general "Newsmakers" page, with this particular story being headlined "No Fairy-Tale Ending Here"), the controversy is regarding the novelization of the movie, by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright.

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I was a big fan of both Narnia movies, so it was only natural that I was really looking forward to seeing The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Since I haven't done anything even remotely constructive all week, I decided today I would go ahead and see it.

I'm very glad I did.

I haven't read the books, written by C.S. Lewis, since I was a kid. In fact, I don't believe I ever read all of them. I may have to rectify that one of these days, inspired by the movies.

Anyway, the movie stars Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes as Lucy and Edmund Pevensie, the only two Pevensie children who are still able to go to the fabled kingdom of Narnia (their older brother and sister, Peter and Susan, have "outgrown" it). The older children have gone to the United States during World War II, but Edmund and Lucy are stuck with their aunt and uncle, and their annoying little cousin Eustace (Will Poulter). In fact, he's making their life almost a living hell. They still have fond memories of Narnia, though, and soon circumstances draw them (along with their cousin) into that magical world again. This time on an ocean adventure with Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), the man they installed on the Narnian thrown in the previous movie.

Along the way, they'll suffer through temptation, and learn a lot about themselves in the process.

Thank You, Leslie Nielsen

As most of you already know, actor Leslie Nielsen died yesterday at the age of 84. I honestly didn't even know that he'd been ill, but I don't really keep up with a lot of the celebrity gossip, and Nielsen wasn't usually found in those pages anyway.

This news saddened me, because I grew up on Leslie Nielsen's comic misadventures. I knew he had been a serious actor before that, but I had never seen him in any of those roles. I still haven't seen Forbidden Planet, something I should do soon.



To me, Nielsen was always the king of deadpan humour, the man who played everything straight even as we were all laughing in the aisles.

Netflix comes to Canada!

Yes, I know this announcement is a few days old, but I've been immersing myself in it so that I can comment on it, rather than just announcing it.

As of Wednesday, Netflix is now available in Canada, but only for streaming video. They will not be offering the "mailing you DVDs that you have to mail back" option up here. And really, with the way streaming video works nowadays, how many people will really mind that?

For $7.99/month (a dollar cheaper than in the US, and even cheaper still considering the Canadian dollar still isn't quite up to par with the US dollar), you have unlimited streaming access to the entire Netflix library on your PC, iPhone/iPad, PS3, Wii and eventually Xbox 360 (I'm assuming that will be after the Fall Xbox Live Dashboard update, but that's just a guess), as well as wireless-capable televisions.

Even better is that you get a free month to try out the service to see if it's something that you're interested in. I'm not sure if that's an introductory offer because of the Canadian launch, or if it will always be that way (Zip.ca has an introductory offer as well, so it may very well be permanent), but if you're Canadian and you just *might* be interested, now is the time to try it out. That offer may not last.

Kick-Ass: Movie Review

Monday nights are good movie nights, because the crowds are rarely large for even the most successful films. Last Monday, we took advantage of that to go see Kick-Ass, the new movie from director Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake). It's based on the comic book of the same name, and it's a really great movie.

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a high school student who's the typical nerd: likes comic books, hangs out with a couple of similar friends, girls pretty much ignore him and he gets bullied by the tougher guys at school too. (Hey, without the bullying part, that's basically me in high school, and he's got my name, too!) Dave suddenly starts wondering why nobody's ever tried to become a superhero before, and he decides to do it himself. He buys a green wetsuit and mask and calls himself "Kick-Ass."

Question for Catholics - oh, and a review of a bad movie

Back in January of 2007, I decided to crack open a boxed set of 8 "War Classics" movies that my wife had bought me (they were cheap, which is a good thing).  The first one I decided to watch was Casablanca Express.  A truly hideous World War II movie starring Jason Connery about a German attempt to waylay Winston Churchill on his way to the Casablanca summit.  I will post the review here, in its entirety (I originally posted it at Epinions).  I do this because:

a) I love writing snarky reviews, as I think they're the funniest ones I write, and I'd like to share it with my loyal readers

b) As context for my question to anybody who knows Catholic ritual.  If you really don't want to read the review, I'll clearly mark where it's over and you can just move on to the question.

But it won't be nearly as much fun.

Review after the break (it's slightly edited from the original Epinions version).

Movie Review: Book of Eli

The Book of Eli has to be one of the most powerful movies I have seen in a long time.  Surprisingly, from a Hollywood that has seemed almost rabidly anti-Christian for a long time (with a few exceptions, such as Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ), comes one of the most Christian movies since Gibson's epic.  As anybody who has read my posts in the last week knows, I am not really a Christian, and yet this film moved me as well.  It is that good.

FilmDrunk

Referred to in my last Red Dawn post, I have to admit I fell in love with the film site FilmDrunk.  In reading through some of the other entries, I laughed at quite a few of them.  If you like your movie news and reviews with a hint (and that's an understatement!) of snark, you can't go wrong with that site.

As with the best snarky sites, it's also a bit risque, but nothing too blatant.  Just to give you an example, here is the description of the blog:

"Film Drunk is the movie blog that plays rough - just the way your mother likes it."

Another example.  The post "Travolta is an idiot", where they go after Travolta's latest, Old Dogs (God, that movie looks horrible from the trailers).

Great stuff, if you're in the right mindset for it.  I love snarky, so I'm definitely there.

More Red Dawn Info

Hey, have you heard that they're remaking that "classic" (I use that term loosely, though I loved it) 80s movie, Red Dawn?  You did if you were on this blog at the beginning of the month!

Turns out I was wrong about the locale.  They're shooting in Michigan, but according to Filmdrunk.com, the movie actually takes place in Spokane, Washington.  I guess that allows them the mountain setting!

The writer of the post has apparently seen a copy of the script.  Here's a sample of what it contains:

"Violence!
Who knows how much of it will make to the final cut, since I’d bet good money that they’ll be aiming for a PG-13, but as I said, a lot of Chinese people die, and there are plenty of “so-and-so gets his face blown off!” moments in the script.  And I like that.  Oh, and as a funny aside, like 70% of the set directions end in a an exclamation point.  Like: Bob goes to the store, only… it’s full of CHINESE SOLDIERS!  He ducks under the counter but… they shoot him in the face! I’ll admit, it does keep things exciting."

I know I'm pumped!  Well, actually, not really.  This sounds like it's going to be a lame remake of a cult classic.  And while it sounds like there won't be a lot of lefty platitudes, I just don't trust Hollywood not to do that.  Of course, the basic premise is kind of a lefty platitude (worldwide financial crisis caused by the US), but they don't have to invade!  Just send a collection agency or something.

Of course, you should read the whole thing. There's some good stuff in there.

(h/t: Jonah Goldberg)

Fear of the Fatwa?

At least director Roland Emmerich admits it.

The director of Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and Godzilla, all movies where he blows a lot of iconic buildings and monuments to smithereens, admits that he wanted to destroy a sacred Islamic temple in Mecca in his new movie, 2012, but:

""I wanted to do that, I have to admit," Emmerich told scifiwire.com. "But my co-writer Harald [Kloser] said I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie. And he was right."

Of course, that didn't stop him from blowing up a bunch of Christian symbols and buildings.

They're remaking Red Dawn? How could they?

What's the biggest story going through my mind right now?  Is it the deficit?  Higher taxes?  Health care?  Don Cherry's suits and who makes them? No, you ninnies.  It's the fact that they're remaking one of my favourite 80s movies, Red Dawn! (No fair those of you who peeked at the title of this post).

The original movie starred Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson (yum!) and Charlie Sheen as a bunch of Colorado high school kids, and Swayze as the guy who ends up leading them, who face off against the villainous Soviet and Cuban invaders of the United States.  It came out in 1984 during the height of the Cold War and, while it had its campy and cringeworthy moments, was actually surprisingly good.  I know I enjoyed it, even some of the obvious pathos.  Did I find it remotely plausible?  No, but that's ok.  Once you get past the implausibility of the premise, the movie holds together quite well.  I'll never forget the image of these students being in class and looking out the window to see these paratroopers landing on the ground.  Very disturbing, even if I was 14 years old and able to handle it at the time.

But now they're remaking it?  Oh, the horror!

Inglourious Basterds - Thoughts on a Second Viewing

The other movie we saw last night was Quentin Tarentino's Inglourious Basterds for the second time.  One of the things about a Tarentino film is that you inevitably miss something the first time around.  Either that, or the structure of the film is such that something at the beginning really makes sense once you've seen the rest of the movie, but you've forgotten about it.  So, we decided to see it again.  What's 2.5 hours between friends?  Thankfully, it didn't drag even the second time around.

Surrogates - Movie Review

Not being a huge fan of Bruce Willis, I wasn't sure what we were going to get when we saw Surrogates last night.  The concept is a fascinating one, and the story is based on a graphic novel, but would it translate well to screen?  I'd have to say that it does for the most part, though a pedestrian plot and tepid acting brings it down a notch.