Figured maybe I'd start putting some thoughts back up here for the world to see. Those of the world that want to see.
Both of you.
I'm gonna start by just posting a few of the movie reviews I did the last couple of years. Should be more of those to come.
NY to L.A. to NY is the U-Turn. I'll be heading back to L.A. soon. That's the circle. Be seeing you Lefters soon.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Radical Rock's Review - Star Trek
Saturday, May 09, 2009
My jaw hit the floor several times during this movie.
I've seen every episode of all the series with the exception of Enterprise. Enterprise rewrote too much of the Star Trek canon, just for the sake of making it new. Unnecessarily, as you will find. I've even read a few of the books. Never gone to one of the conventions with fake pointy ears. Never had to have Shatner tell me to grow up or leave my parents basement. Not a Trekkie, but a Trekker. The distinction in my mind is that it's not the be all end all of my existience, but I do dig most things Trek. I just like good writing, and interesting premises. The acting can be hokey at times, but I enjoy that as well. But, I do believe in the honest purity of what has come before. Han shoots first? That's bullshit. The guys looking for E.T. are carrying flashlights, not guns? Kiss my fat ass. So, the idea of another Trek restart did not sit well with me, as I'm sure it did not sit well with others. But, let's consider another recent restart.
Casino Royale.
To fans of the Bond legacy, the idea of restarting Bond from scratch was anathema. "How dare you erase all that has gone before?" But, Bond started in the SIXTIES. Hit it's stride in the seventies and cruised through the eighties. The nineties saw it as tired. Guess what? Same can be said of another property. And, guess what else?
Casino Royale Rocked to the Prime.
So does the new Trek.
Except, through very inventive writing, and pure Sci-Fi thinking outside the box, everything that has gone before has still gone before. Even though it's a clean start.
What the hell does that mean?
See the movie.
Intrigued? You should be.
Let's get to the non spoiler stuff. JJ Abrams can direct a damn fine action flick. He proved that with Mission Impossible III, and has shown that again here. Once this movie has established the basic plot and gotten the chess pieces into place, it kicks into high gear and doesn't let up until the Coda.
The acting from the Big Seven was fantastic. Loved the new takes on the characters. Oddly, yet correctly, the most in keeping with the original character, and thereby the least impressive to me, was Quinto as Spock. He channeled Nimoy. Karl Urban did an unbelievable homage to DeForest Kelley as Bones, but breathed new life into the character as well. Quinto felt more like mimicry. Not chagrining the potrayal, just saying that the most publicised, (which might be the reason), was the least impressive.
The twists in this movie truly shocked me. I commend them for the balls to do what they did. I kept expecting one of the old Sci-Fi deux es machinas to come in to place to erase what happened, but dude. What happens in this movie is now the new canon. Deal with it. Dig it. Derive pleasure from it. It's all good in the end.
After thinking about it, I decided to take out the spoiler stuff I had written here. They were some pretty major spoilers, and I figured it wasn't worth the risk of someone even accidently seeing them before checking out the flick. Let's just leave it as big things happen in the movie. 'Nuff said.
Prime's Bottom Line - Fuck Enterprise (and the bullshit of losing the Star Trek title, at least when the series started), THIS is the way to REstart, REinvigorate and REnew interest in this property.
I've seen every episode of all the series with the exception of Enterprise. Enterprise rewrote too much of the Star Trek canon, just for the sake of making it new. Unnecessarily, as you will find. I've even read a few of the books. Never gone to one of the conventions with fake pointy ears. Never had to have Shatner tell me to grow up or leave my parents basement. Not a Trekkie, but a Trekker. The distinction in my mind is that it's not the be all end all of my existience, but I do dig most things Trek. I just like good writing, and interesting premises. The acting can be hokey at times, but I enjoy that as well. But, I do believe in the honest purity of what has come before. Han shoots first? That's bullshit. The guys looking for E.T. are carrying flashlights, not guns? Kiss my fat ass. So, the idea of another Trek restart did not sit well with me, as I'm sure it did not sit well with others. But, let's consider another recent restart.
Casino Royale.
To fans of the Bond legacy, the idea of restarting Bond from scratch was anathema. "How dare you erase all that has gone before?" But, Bond started in the SIXTIES. Hit it's stride in the seventies and cruised through the eighties. The nineties saw it as tired. Guess what? Same can be said of another property. And, guess what else?
Casino Royale Rocked to the Prime.
So does the new Trek.
Except, through very inventive writing, and pure Sci-Fi thinking outside the box, everything that has gone before has still gone before. Even though it's a clean start.
What the hell does that mean?
See the movie.
Intrigued? You should be.
Let's get to the non spoiler stuff. JJ Abrams can direct a damn fine action flick. He proved that with Mission Impossible III, and has shown that again here. Once this movie has established the basic plot and gotten the chess pieces into place, it kicks into high gear and doesn't let up until the Coda.
The acting from the Big Seven was fantastic. Loved the new takes on the characters. Oddly, yet correctly, the most in keeping with the original character, and thereby the least impressive to me, was Quinto as Spock. He channeled Nimoy. Karl Urban did an unbelievable homage to DeForest Kelley as Bones, but breathed new life into the character as well. Quinto felt more like mimicry. Not chagrining the potrayal, just saying that the most publicised, (which might be the reason), was the least impressive.
The twists in this movie truly shocked me. I commend them for the balls to do what they did. I kept expecting one of the old Sci-Fi deux es machinas to come in to place to erase what happened, but dude. What happens in this movie is now the new canon. Deal with it. Dig it. Derive pleasure from it. It's all good in the end.
After thinking about it, I decided to take out the spoiler stuff I had written here. They were some pretty major spoilers, and I figured it wasn't worth the risk of someone even accidently seeing them before checking out the flick. Let's just leave it as big things happen in the movie. 'Nuff said.
Prime's Bottom Line - Fuck Enterprise (and the bullshit of losing the Star Trek title, at least when the series started), THIS is the way to REstart, REinvigorate and REnew interest in this property.
Radical Rock’s Review - Batman: The Dark Knight
Thursday, September 04, 2008
The movie is closing in on 500 mil domestic as I write this. It was my hope that it would top 600 and finally take Titanic out of the all-time top spot. If that happens, I'll edit this one last time. If not, this be it.
Dark Kuh-nee-ghit rocked.
The story was great. The opening bank robbery was the perfect way to not only open the movie, but introduce one of the main characters. Each of the characters were given their moment to shine and show who they really were. Even Gotham City as a character was given a moment.
Great action. Great effects.
NO BATNIPPLES!!!
The Ledger thing was weird for me. In what I believe was his best performance, his death kept distracting me. I would sit there in awe at this acting tour de force, and all of a sudden I would think, "Oh yeah. He's dead now." My ADD mindfarts notwithstanding, his take on the Joker was one of the best things about this flick. Super villain as the ultimate anarchist. Beautiful rendition.
I always thought Maggie Gylenhalliglgnalinlag was a weird looking broad. But, I'm SO happy they got her this time around and not Mrs. Cruise. She looked much more like someone Bruce Wayne grew up with instead of someone he picked up in his Batmobile while cruising St. Ignatius' Junior High School for Girls.
Bale was spot on again. But, that voice was a bit much. You want to go gravelly with the Batvoice, but he sounded like that huge rock creature from Never Ending Story.
The rest of the cast was awesome. Easy Reader was amazing. So was Alfie and Drexl Spivey. But, the best character and storyline of the movie for me was that of Harvey Dent/Twoface. Batman and Joker we've seen before. Not quite like this, but we know what we were going to get pretty much. This was the first time we REALLY got the Twoface story on the big screen. This wasn't Billy Dee Williams as Dent or Tommy Lee Jones as Twoface. This was Aaron Eckhart (who?) in a fleshed out story, giving us a full character arch and real depth.
This has been a great summer for superhero flicks. Iron Man. A GOOD Hulk. Indy Jones (I think it's safe to put him in this catergory). A bunch of well received others (Hellboy, Hancock, Wanted). But, Batman was the one the genre was counting on. And, they knocked it out of the park.
Move over Adam West.
Prime's Bottom Line - Michael Caine played Alfie in the 1966 movie of the same name. Morgan Freeman played Easy Reader in the 1970s TV show Electric Company. Gary Oldman played Drexl Spivey in 1993s True Romance. And, now you know...
AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!!!
The movie is closing in on 500 mil domestic as I write this. It was my hope that it would top 600 and finally take Titanic out of the all-time top spot. If that happens, I'll edit this one last time. If not, this be it.
Dark Kuh-nee-ghit rocked.
The story was great. The opening bank robbery was the perfect way to not only open the movie, but introduce one of the main characters. Each of the characters were given their moment to shine and show who they really were. Even Gotham City as a character was given a moment.
Great action. Great effects.
NO BATNIPPLES!!!
The Ledger thing was weird for me. In what I believe was his best performance, his death kept distracting me. I would sit there in awe at this acting tour de force, and all of a sudden I would think, "Oh yeah. He's dead now." My ADD mindfarts notwithstanding, his take on the Joker was one of the best things about this flick. Super villain as the ultimate anarchist. Beautiful rendition.
I always thought Maggie Gylenhalliglgnalinlag was a weird looking broad. But, I'm SO happy they got her this time around and not Mrs. Cruise. She looked much more like someone Bruce Wayne grew up with instead of someone he picked up in his Batmobile while cruising St. Ignatius' Junior High School for Girls.
Bale was spot on again. But, that voice was a bit much. You want to go gravelly with the Batvoice, but he sounded like that huge rock creature from Never Ending Story.
The rest of the cast was awesome. Easy Reader was amazing. So was Alfie and Drexl Spivey. But, the best character and storyline of the movie for me was that of Harvey Dent/Twoface. Batman and Joker we've seen before. Not quite like this, but we know what we were going to get pretty much. This was the first time we REALLY got the Twoface story on the big screen. This wasn't Billy Dee Williams as Dent or Tommy Lee Jones as Twoface. This was Aaron Eckhart (who?) in a fleshed out story, giving us a full character arch and real depth.
This has been a great summer for superhero flicks. Iron Man. A GOOD Hulk. Indy Jones (I think it's safe to put him in this catergory). A bunch of well received others (Hellboy, Hancock, Wanted). But, Batman was the one the genre was counting on. And, they knocked it out of the park.
Move over Adam West.
Prime's Bottom Line - Michael Caine played Alfie in the 1966 movie of the same name. Morgan Freeman played Easy Reader in the 1970s TV show Electric Company. Gary Oldman played Drexl Spivey in 1993s True Romance. And, now you know...
AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!!!
Radical Rock’s Review - Hancock
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I'm Black.
I do my job but I don't really like it.
Call me that one word that I hate, and I will do something very bad to you.
If I had superpowers, I'd be Hancock.
Okay. Gotta get this outta the way. Hand Cock is the stupidest name for a superhero. Might as well call him Master Bation Boy.
July fourth and Will Smith. Screw what the standard movie reviewer will say about MIB and ID4. Wild Wild West came out on the July fourth weekend, so that axiom means nothing. This however is a flick that skews the ratio in a positive way. Face facts, Will Smith is a majorly personable fellow. And, the malaise of this character needed somebody who could also act.
Eddie Murphy is too old, Kat Williams is too short, Martin Lawrence can't make a good movie unless he's in drag and Dave Chappelle is too...
Damn, that brother is a twig.
Naw. This is all about Will Smith. And, he hits the character right on the nugget. Without him, this movie would have fallen flat. Though the movie has some great laughs (most of which you will probably have seen already in the commercials and trailers, dammit), it is more about the character trying to find his place in the world beyond just the guy who comes to the rescue at the last second. This is Superman turned on it's ear, but in ways you prolly wouldn't have expected. And, that is what elevates this above just standard spoof. It looks for the truth of the character more than the weaknesses we can laugh at.
A good cast. A story that moves in some interesting ways. And, a good amount of fun. Definitely digable.
Prime's Bottom Line - Look at the screen! It's a hit! It's a smash! It's a...
Okay that joke is really starting to suck huge rotten lemons. The movie is good, okay? See it if you can't get in to see Batman II. Or, if you've seen Batman II already. That is all.
I'm Black.
I do my job but I don't really like it.
Call me that one word that I hate, and I will do something very bad to you.
If I had superpowers, I'd be Hancock.
Okay. Gotta get this outta the way. Hand Cock is the stupidest name for a superhero. Might as well call him Master Bation Boy.
July fourth and Will Smith. Screw what the standard movie reviewer will say about MIB and ID4. Wild Wild West came out on the July fourth weekend, so that axiom means nothing. This however is a flick that skews the ratio in a positive way. Face facts, Will Smith is a majorly personable fellow. And, the malaise of this character needed somebody who could also act.
Eddie Murphy is too old, Kat Williams is too short, Martin Lawrence can't make a good movie unless he's in drag and Dave Chappelle is too...
Damn, that brother is a twig.
Naw. This is all about Will Smith. And, he hits the character right on the nugget. Without him, this movie would have fallen flat. Though the movie has some great laughs (most of which you will probably have seen already in the commercials and trailers, dammit), it is more about the character trying to find his place in the world beyond just the guy who comes to the rescue at the last second. This is Superman turned on it's ear, but in ways you prolly wouldn't have expected. And, that is what elevates this above just standard spoof. It looks for the truth of the character more than the weaknesses we can laugh at.
A good cast. A story that moves in some interesting ways. And, a good amount of fun. Definitely digable.
Prime's Bottom Line - Look at the screen! It's a hit! It's a smash! It's a...
Okay that joke is really starting to suck huge rotten lemons. The movie is good, okay? See it if you can't get in to see Batman II. Or, if you've seen Batman II already. That is all.
Radical Rock’s Review - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Monday, June 02, 2008
What the hell took them so long? All those years wasted on Tom Hanks running around an airline terminal, security execs hacking bank computers to save their family, and FUCKING MITICHLORIANS. Finally the big three of the 80's get back together and show everyone else how to make an adventure movie. The John Williams music swells, the hat is picked up and it's time again for cracking whips, daring escapes, incredible chases and lots of people getting punched in the face. NINETEEN YEARS since the last one. If they had kept making one of these every three years, this would have been Indiana Jones NINE. That's five Indy movies we'll never get, just so we could hear some little shit say YIPPEE because a flying sloth told him he could take off early from work. Just so we could watch Leonardo DeCrapio forge checks. Just so we could watch Harrison on a deserted island with ANNE FRIGGIN' HECHE. I'm ticked off about all that lost opportunity because this movie is just That. Damn. Good.
Back in 1981 (when most of your were learning how to crawl, if that) Spielberg, Lucas and Ford got together and created the ultimate summer adventure movie template. Using the Adventure Serials of the early years of movies as their inspiration, an archeologist who carried a whip and a gun was born. Since saving the world from the Nazis, the Thugee cult and the Nazis (again), it seems that Indy became James Bond for a couple of decades (from what little backstory we get). But, things he did during those 19 years drag him into the middle of one more adventure. Though he's a bunch older and has lost a step or two, Indy still has the knowlege, strength and right cross that makes you NOT wanna bet against him.
The movie is pure summer fun. Harrison Ford still has that perfect charm for this character (smirk, smooth line, punch, swing on the whip, smirk, smooth line, etc.). George Lucas shows that he can still come up with great ideas, as long as someone else finishes the work. And, Spielberg...
Heck, we're talking about Spielberg. Even that airport movie was fun to watch.
This is a movie that is more about the Daring Adventure than about the Digital Art. More about the Fun than about the FX. Around the time of Twister and Independence Day filmmakers started losing sight of the heart of great blockbusters. The best moment of Die Hard wasn't the building blowing up, it was Bruce Willis finishing a conversation with "Yippee Kai Yay, Mother Fucker" (maybe that's what little Ani should have said). The effects and action should elevate a movie to blockbuster. But, the movie (characters, story) needs to be there first or else there is nothing to elevate. Spielberg has always shown he knows that. You root for Indy and his little "family" first. The pretty CGI add to that. This movie is just fantastic adventure. Edge of your seat, laugh your ass off, "how the hell did he just do that?" adventure.
Iron Man started this season off right. Indy just made sure it will be a movie summer to remember.
Prime's Bottom Line - 19 years since number 3. Let's see. Next year Back to the Future IV?
What the hell took them so long? All those years wasted on Tom Hanks running around an airline terminal, security execs hacking bank computers to save their family, and FUCKING MITICHLORIANS. Finally the big three of the 80's get back together and show everyone else how to make an adventure movie. The John Williams music swells, the hat is picked up and it's time again for cracking whips, daring escapes, incredible chases and lots of people getting punched in the face. NINETEEN YEARS since the last one. If they had kept making one of these every three years, this would have been Indiana Jones NINE. That's five Indy movies we'll never get, just so we could hear some little shit say YIPPEE because a flying sloth told him he could take off early from work. Just so we could watch Leonardo DeCrapio forge checks. Just so we could watch Harrison on a deserted island with ANNE FRIGGIN' HECHE. I'm ticked off about all that lost opportunity because this movie is just That. Damn. Good.
Back in 1981 (when most of your were learning how to crawl, if that) Spielberg, Lucas and Ford got together and created the ultimate summer adventure movie template. Using the Adventure Serials of the early years of movies as their inspiration, an archeologist who carried a whip and a gun was born. Since saving the world from the Nazis, the Thugee cult and the Nazis (again), it seems that Indy became James Bond for a couple of decades (from what little backstory we get). But, things he did during those 19 years drag him into the middle of one more adventure. Though he's a bunch older and has lost a step or two, Indy still has the knowlege, strength and right cross that makes you NOT wanna bet against him.
The movie is pure summer fun. Harrison Ford still has that perfect charm for this character (smirk, smooth line, punch, swing on the whip, smirk, smooth line, etc.). George Lucas shows that he can still come up with great ideas, as long as someone else finishes the work. And, Spielberg...
Heck, we're talking about Spielberg. Even that airport movie was fun to watch.
This is a movie that is more about the Daring Adventure than about the Digital Art. More about the Fun than about the FX. Around the time of Twister and Independence Day filmmakers started losing sight of the heart of great blockbusters. The best moment of Die Hard wasn't the building blowing up, it was Bruce Willis finishing a conversation with "Yippee Kai Yay, Mother Fucker" (maybe that's what little Ani should have said). The effects and action should elevate a movie to blockbuster. But, the movie (characters, story) needs to be there first or else there is nothing to elevate. Spielberg has always shown he knows that. You root for Indy and his little "family" first. The pretty CGI add to that. This movie is just fantastic adventure. Edge of your seat, laugh your ass off, "how the hell did he just do that?" adventure.
Iron Man started this season off right. Indy just made sure it will be a movie summer to remember.
Prime's Bottom Line - 19 years since number 3. Let's see. Next year Back to the Future IV?
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