Battleship is being released this weekend which means we are being inundated with promos, Making Of specials, product plugs, etc. Sadly, what sticks in my mind more than anything else about this movie is the fact that during the promos the line "From Hasbro, the company that brought you Transformers..." Yeah, probably not what they were going for. I mean, really? Hasbro? The toy company? Is this who we really want to go to for our movies? Screw MGM or Martin Scorsese, let's get our ideas from the people who created My Little Pony. Yep, that's some deep, groundbreaking, commentary on our society, shiznit.
Magic Mike trailers are starting to roll. Aw yeah. I should start a countdown for the release of this movie. I know, it's a movie about male strippers. I should feel a certain level of guilt about really looking forward to a bunch of guys ripping their clothes off to the screams of millions of women, but I don't. I saw Showgirls when it came out in the movie theater so there's little to top that on my list of least proud moviegoing experiences. (Mainly, my friends and I wanted to see what the big deal was with this movie that it was rated the dreaded NC-17. After seeing it, I wish I had the hour and a half of my life back, along with the price of admission.) Is this the male equivalent of the objectification that feminists like to talk about? I say, you should be happy. Turnabout is fair play, right? Anyway, I have been to a male strip club. I was more embarrassed than anything, except for the bridal party across the stage/runway/catwalk thing from us. The bride-to-be was more entertaining than anything on the stage that night. We were all betting how long it took for her to get kicked out, but I digress. Now if the strippers looked like the guys in this movie, I may have been a repeat customer...Many repeats. Alas, they were not. There were a few good-looking guys, but not worth the $20 cover charge and $5 bottles of water. Do I think this will be an Academy award winning movie? Of course not, but it should be fun.
Prometheus is set to open the weekend after my birthday. I so want to see this. Mainly because Ridley Scott is the bomb, and partially because it's looking more and more like an Alien prequel which I'm all about. Plus it has Noomi Rapace in a lead role (the lead role?), who I thought was great in the original Swedish version of The Girl with Dragon Tattoo and the other Millennium trilogy movies, Michael Fassbender, who is great in everything he's in, and Idris Elba, who just seems like a cool dude (love the fact that he can do an American accent well, and he's a voice in Call of Duty-MW3--hell yeah!).
They're also pimping the new Spider-Man movie which I'm torn about seeing. On one hand, I love Emma Stone. She is so great. Very funny, but can do dramatic too. Just seems like a girl-next-door type and very easy to relate to. The new Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield (Stone's new bf), looks not bad in the previews, but I think it has to do with the fact that he looks like he's twelve that's kinda turning me off. I know Peter Parker is supposed to be young, but this kids looks really young. Guess I'm just not in the demographic they're targeting. Oh well.
Enough babbling for today. Peace out! Show some love at sixdegreesofkb@hotmail.com.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Redux
As I sit watching trailers and news spots on what movies are coming out, I have to ask: are remakes necessary? Do we really need new versions of certain movies? Can't Hollywood leave well enough alone?
I am a child of the 80s and 90s (if you want to stretch your definition of "child") so I have seen the original versions of Footloose and Total Recall and Nightmare on Elm Street. (You know I had to get the Footloose reference simply because of the title of this blog.) I'm not so sure they needed remakes. I hope the kids/teenagers/young people don't judge Footloose on the performances of Julianne Hough and Kenny Wormald. He was alright, but he's no Kevin Bacon, thank you very much. Jackie Earle Haley is a creepy dude, but he's no match for Robert Englund. Colin Farrell compared to Ahnold? Yeah, not really although he has to be in his heaviest Irish accent easier to understand than the Governator. That being said, I have a hard time believing that Hollywood studio executives, directors, agents, et. al., don't receive original screenplays by the truckload daily. Why do we have to recycle old ideas? They were great the first time around, but don't beat a dead dog.
I wanted to like Footloose. It was one of my favorite childhood movies. I could probably recite a good bit of the dialogue. I remember roller skating in my friend's basement to the soundtrack--oh where have you gone Kenny Loggins? I wanted to embrace the idea of a new version for a younger generation, with hipper dance moves, and tuxedos sans ruffles for the ending dance scene. But when they recycled everything, including word-for-word dialogue, I had to say, bleh. Hollywood, you could have done so much better.
To be fair, sometimes they can take an old idea and tweak it and turn it into something pretty good. Prime example? 21 Jump Street. Loved it. I loved the old television show with Johnny Depp and Richard Greico and their fabulous hair, so I was a little wary when it was announced a movie version would be released. But right from the jump, no pun intended, you could tell it wasn't going for that angle. It was going to be different, almost laughing at the drama approach the TV show took, including the fact that the guys looked like it had been decades since they were last in high school. That was the way to do it. Make something new out of an old idea. Don't take a movie, slap a new coat of paint on it (i.e. stick some hot new actress or actor in the lead role) without changing stuff around, and think we're not going to notice. Do something different. In a nutshell: stop f*&@ing with movies from my childhood.
Running a close second to the remake, in my opinion of hated movie ideas, is the sequel. I admit to a certain cheesy thrill when watching Friday the 13th Part XXX, but you know going in that it's going to suck and not come close to the original. Plus, those are strictly renters/wait for cable. They're talking about making another Fast and Furious movie, and as much as I like watching Vin Diesel and Paul Walker (he of the beautiful eyes), even I will not be paying money to watch the sixth movie in the franchise. Another Die Hard is in the works and rumors of a Top Gun remake/sequel. NOOOOOOO!!!!! (Now that movie I can recite almost word for word from beginning to end. I'm not proud of it, but there it is. Roger, that's your bogey.) I understand that Hollywood is in the money-making business, and if a movie gets tons of cash, why not see if people will come out for a sequel? I get that, but come on. And don't get me started on the television show/video game/board game to movie idea. Really? Battleship? Oy. What's next? Candyland?
All I'm saying is get some original stuff out there. People will watch. It doesn't even have to be ground-breaking, Oscar-worthy stuff. Look at Kevin Smith. With the exception of Red State (which I liked) he's made his entire career on movies that have no action, no special effects, barely any camera work and sometimes questionable acting, but people watch it. Except for Clerks II. That was pretty bad. Make it and they will come.
Bring on the hate mail at sixdegreesofkb@hotmail.com.
I am a child of the 80s and 90s (if you want to stretch your definition of "child") so I have seen the original versions of Footloose and Total Recall and Nightmare on Elm Street. (You know I had to get the Footloose reference simply because of the title of this blog.) I'm not so sure they needed remakes. I hope the kids/teenagers/young people don't judge Footloose on the performances of Julianne Hough and Kenny Wormald. He was alright, but he's no Kevin Bacon, thank you very much. Jackie Earle Haley is a creepy dude, but he's no match for Robert Englund. Colin Farrell compared to Ahnold? Yeah, not really although he has to be in his heaviest Irish accent easier to understand than the Governator. That being said, I have a hard time believing that Hollywood studio executives, directors, agents, et. al., don't receive original screenplays by the truckload daily. Why do we have to recycle old ideas? They were great the first time around, but don't beat a dead dog.
I wanted to like Footloose. It was one of my favorite childhood movies. I could probably recite a good bit of the dialogue. I remember roller skating in my friend's basement to the soundtrack--oh where have you gone Kenny Loggins? I wanted to embrace the idea of a new version for a younger generation, with hipper dance moves, and tuxedos sans ruffles for the ending dance scene. But when they recycled everything, including word-for-word dialogue, I had to say, bleh. Hollywood, you could have done so much better.
To be fair, sometimes they can take an old idea and tweak it and turn it into something pretty good. Prime example? 21 Jump Street. Loved it. I loved the old television show with Johnny Depp and Richard Greico and their fabulous hair, so I was a little wary when it was announced a movie version would be released. But right from the jump, no pun intended, you could tell it wasn't going for that angle. It was going to be different, almost laughing at the drama approach the TV show took, including the fact that the guys looked like it had been decades since they were last in high school. That was the way to do it. Make something new out of an old idea. Don't take a movie, slap a new coat of paint on it (i.e. stick some hot new actress or actor in the lead role) without changing stuff around, and think we're not going to notice. Do something different. In a nutshell: stop f*&@ing with movies from my childhood.
Running a close second to the remake, in my opinion of hated movie ideas, is the sequel. I admit to a certain cheesy thrill when watching Friday the 13th Part XXX, but you know going in that it's going to suck and not come close to the original. Plus, those are strictly renters/wait for cable. They're talking about making another Fast and Furious movie, and as much as I like watching Vin Diesel and Paul Walker (he of the beautiful eyes), even I will not be paying money to watch the sixth movie in the franchise. Another Die Hard is in the works and rumors of a Top Gun remake/sequel. NOOOOOOO!!!!! (Now that movie I can recite almost word for word from beginning to end. I'm not proud of it, but there it is. Roger, that's your bogey.) I understand that Hollywood is in the money-making business, and if a movie gets tons of cash, why not see if people will come out for a sequel? I get that, but come on. And don't get me started on the television show/video game/board game to movie idea. Really? Battleship? Oy. What's next? Candyland?
All I'm saying is get some original stuff out there. People will watch. It doesn't even have to be ground-breaking, Oscar-worthy stuff. Look at Kevin Smith. With the exception of Red State (which I liked) he's made his entire career on movies that have no action, no special effects, barely any camera work and sometimes questionable acting, but people watch it. Except for Clerks II. That was pretty bad. Make it and they will come.
Bring on the hate mail at sixdegreesofkb@hotmail.com.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
A New Hope...
I love movies. Good movies, bad movies, dramas, comedies, action/adventure, horror, etc. My brain is filled with more useless knowledge about movies than anything I should have retained from college. I am the champ at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (as evidenced by the title of this blog). As such, I have decided to start a blog about movies. Why not blog about something I love, right? So if you care, or if you don't, come along for the ride and hopefully we'll all get something out of it.
This last weekend I saw The Avengers in IMAX no less. Granted, I was so close to the screen I had to turn my head to see everything, but that's neither here nor there. I went into the movie hoping it didn't suck, but not expecting anything great. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. Let me clarify that I am no comic book geek. Not that there's anything wrong with being a CBG but I'm just not one of them. I never got into reading and/or collecting various issues/editions of comics. As such, I couldn't tell you if the storyline was true to the backstories of The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor or the characters played by Scarlett Johannson and Jeremy Renner. Incidentally, are they really superheroes if they don't have super powers? Just wondering.
Don't get me wrong, I realize that Scarlett Johnasson (Black Widow) was kicking some major ass, but is she a superhero? And Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) had mad skills with a bow and arrow, but superpower? I think that's a bit of stretch. Again, maybe this is because I didn't read the comics with these two peeps in it, but considering they're going up with the God of Thunder, a huge green guy that is the result of gamma radiation poisoning (or whatever you want to call it), Captain of the stars and stripes who can do major things because of a "super serum", and the dude in the metal suit that can fly, shoot missiles, etc., being able to shoot a gun, or having really great archery skills seems to pale in comparison.
I think that Mark Ruffalo did a great job as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, and I've seen the Eric Bana and Edward Norton versions. Both were meh, though Edward Norton much better than Eric Bana. Not that I think it was his fault; I blame the writing and the fact that it was a good five years between the two movies. In movie tech terms, that might as well be a couple of decades considering how fast special FX tech moves.
And who doesn't love Robert Downey, Jr.? Had the best lines of the movie and delivered them perfectly. Love the sarcastic wit, plus he's not exactly a young buck anymore but still delivers on the action making you believe he could do it.
I would recommend watching in a theater, though the IMAX 3D seemed like overkill. Especially the IMAX ticket price. I won't be surprised if there's a sequel, or sequels to this. Obviously they're raking in the dough for this movie (biggest opening weekend ever), and the powers that be in Hollywood will milk this franchise for every last nickel. Hopefully, any sequel(s) produced won't get watered down and cliche.
As an aside, I'm not all up on the 3D bandwagon. It's rather distracting, I don't think it really makes it feel like the action is jumping out at you, and I certainly don't appreciate the extra cost for this "premium" service. I would have been just as happy to have watched in old-school 2D.
Summer movies are just around the corner, and here is a short listing of movies I will want to see:
Magic Mike - Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Mangianello almost naked; 'nuff said.
The Bourne Legacy - Can Jeremy Renner fill Matt Damon's shoes (though technically, he's not Jason Bourne in this movie)?
Men in Black 3 - Josh Brolin sounds and looks so close to Tommy Lee Jones it's scary.
Prometheus - Ridley Scott back at the helm of a maybe-could-be-is-it-Alien movie? Yeah, I'm going. Brave - Pixar, a definite must.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation - Channing Tatum and the Rock. Yeah, it will probably suck, but throw in some good action with the eye candy and it may be worth the price of admission.
Ted - If you haven't seen the previews of this Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) movie, Google it. Just because it has a stuffed bear in it, doesn't mean it's for kids. So wrong, but so right.
The Cold Light of Day - It's being released September 7, so technically it may not be a summer movie, but it has Henry Cavill in it and I'd pay to watch him polish silverware. Yeah, he's that yummy.
So there you have it kids. My go-to list of summer movies that I want to see. We'll see if I can actually get to all these. If so, I'll let you know what I think, whether you like it or not. Here's hoping.
Questions, comments, think you can stump me at 6 degrees? Send it to sixdegreesofkb@hotmail.com.
This last weekend I saw The Avengers in IMAX no less. Granted, I was so close to the screen I had to turn my head to see everything, but that's neither here nor there. I went into the movie hoping it didn't suck, but not expecting anything great. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. Let me clarify that I am no comic book geek. Not that there's anything wrong with being a CBG but I'm just not one of them. I never got into reading and/or collecting various issues/editions of comics. As such, I couldn't tell you if the storyline was true to the backstories of The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor or the characters played by Scarlett Johannson and Jeremy Renner. Incidentally, are they really superheroes if they don't have super powers? Just wondering.
Don't get me wrong, I realize that Scarlett Johnasson (Black Widow) was kicking some major ass, but is she a superhero? And Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) had mad skills with a bow and arrow, but superpower? I think that's a bit of stretch. Again, maybe this is because I didn't read the comics with these two peeps in it, but considering they're going up with the God of Thunder, a huge green guy that is the result of gamma radiation poisoning (or whatever you want to call it), Captain of the stars and stripes who can do major things because of a "super serum", and the dude in the metal suit that can fly, shoot missiles, etc., being able to shoot a gun, or having really great archery skills seems to pale in comparison.
I think that Mark Ruffalo did a great job as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, and I've seen the Eric Bana and Edward Norton versions. Both were meh, though Edward Norton much better than Eric Bana. Not that I think it was his fault; I blame the writing and the fact that it was a good five years between the two movies. In movie tech terms, that might as well be a couple of decades considering how fast special FX tech moves.
And who doesn't love Robert Downey, Jr.? Had the best lines of the movie and delivered them perfectly. Love the sarcastic wit, plus he's not exactly a young buck anymore but still delivers on the action making you believe he could do it.
I would recommend watching in a theater, though the IMAX 3D seemed like overkill. Especially the IMAX ticket price. I won't be surprised if there's a sequel, or sequels to this. Obviously they're raking in the dough for this movie (biggest opening weekend ever), and the powers that be in Hollywood will milk this franchise for every last nickel. Hopefully, any sequel(s) produced won't get watered down and cliche.
As an aside, I'm not all up on the 3D bandwagon. It's rather distracting, I don't think it really makes it feel like the action is jumping out at you, and I certainly don't appreciate the extra cost for this "premium" service. I would have been just as happy to have watched in old-school 2D.
Summer movies are just around the corner, and here is a short listing of movies I will want to see:
Magic Mike - Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Mangianello almost naked; 'nuff said.
The Bourne Legacy - Can Jeremy Renner fill Matt Damon's shoes (though technically, he's not Jason Bourne in this movie)?
Men in Black 3 - Josh Brolin sounds and looks so close to Tommy Lee Jones it's scary.
Prometheus - Ridley Scott back at the helm of a maybe-could-be-is-it-Alien movie? Yeah, I'm going. Brave - Pixar, a definite must.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation - Channing Tatum and the Rock. Yeah, it will probably suck, but throw in some good action with the eye candy and it may be worth the price of admission.
Ted - If you haven't seen the previews of this Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) movie, Google it. Just because it has a stuffed bear in it, doesn't mean it's for kids. So wrong, but so right.
The Cold Light of Day - It's being released September 7, so technically it may not be a summer movie, but it has Henry Cavill in it and I'd pay to watch him polish silverware. Yeah, he's that yummy.
So there you have it kids. My go-to list of summer movies that I want to see. We'll see if I can actually get to all these. If so, I'll let you know what I think, whether you like it or not. Here's hoping.
Questions, comments, think you can stump me at 6 degrees? Send it to sixdegreesofkb@hotmail.com.
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