Thor: The Dark World (2013) Loki Was Only Mostly Dead

Thor: The Dark World (2013) Paramount

I feel bad that I watched this movie in the same week I saw Iron Man 3 again because I feel like I was tainted from the non-logical experience of watching that film. Sometimes I feel like I am the only person looking into these films and finding fault with them. Thor 2 introduced something that I have not seen in a superhero movie in some time. It showed us his family. You probably haven’t thought about it but it is difficult to actually see a superhero interact with his own family. Not his real family anyway.

I thought about Odin and Frigga and both characters acted very similarly to earth-like parents. Odin was disappointed that Thor wanted to be with Natalie Portman and really who can blame him. She is a scientific genius that is basically butter anytime she sees muscles (real strength of character). This is a very odd combination and I think most people see the logic in Thor marrying Sif. She is more attractive, warrior minded, deeply caring for Thor, smart, selfless, honorable, fights for Asgard, saved Thors life, do I really need to go on? She is basically the perfect woman for Thor but he would rather stay with butter instead.

Again the best character in the film is Heimdall (played by Idris Elba) who makes a living by kicking ass and staying apart from the Asgardian world. He enjoys the beauty of the universe compared to that of a woman which seems like a trifle to him. He takes down an invisible warship single-handedly and is the most believable alien character.

Tom Hiddleston plays Loki once again and he is always up to his tricks as usual. He is what I would call a conundrum. He leads one of the “Kursed” away from the fighting and towards his mother whom he loves. He then had to deal with the fact that he literally helped kill the only person he cared for. He now has to live in shame because of his actions. He then signs up for the vengeance mission only to fool Thor later on that he was dead at one point and also fooled Odin which repeats the story line from the first film. He also fools the same Odin that shreds matter and is the wisest man in the entire universe. What gave away the fact that it was Loki to me in the ending scene is that he mentioned Loki when Thor brought him up. This is something that Odin would not do because he cares little for Loki after what happened on Earth and previously with the Frost Giants.

One thing I disliked was the Aether and Malekith. After seeing the power of the Aether, Bor (father of Odin) instructs a commander to “bury it deep where no one will find it.” Well they buried it on the same planet they were fighting on which is uninhabited, but within eye shot from the opening of a cave. I feel like there could be several other places better suited for this artifact even if it were in the same hole, just deeper. Thor goes after Malekith in hopes to destroy the Aether which he was told could not be destroyed by Odin. Thor tries to be noble by taking the weapon away from his home planet, but lacks a real understanding of the weapon which makes his endeavors pointless.

Malekith is an odd villain because he wishes for the world to be in darkness where he can rule and rebuild his people. The reason he wants to rid the universe of the sun is unknown, which makes him a pretty regular villain. I am just waiting for the day that Hollywood decides to write about real evil. It’s not often you see a good villain like Heath Ledgers Joker, but there should be more roles written with real evil intent rather than just universal domination.

Iron Man 3 (2013) Made No Sense

Iron Man 3 (2013) Paramount

An old popular plotline in superhero comics is the ‘demons from the past’ plot which never seems to get old because it allows writers to bring new villains to the forefront that have been lingering around for years. I think it is important to note that the theme of these movies often orbits around things that the protagonist could’ve done better to stop these people from rising to their evil plots. It’s somewhat a joke when you think about it because there were plenty of things that troubled these people before they became evil. It’s not the superheroes fault, but they take the blame for it like in Iron Man 3 where Stark blames himself for starting this mess. 

Aldrich Killian was supposedly thankful for Stark treating him the way he did because it allowed him to become desperate enough to become evil. His whole goal during the film is to create another war on terror where he owned the villain and somehow had the war supplies. Although it is only mentioned briefly, Killian had lots of military contracts but mostly focused on the extremis project. He didn’t really have any weapons other than the people he manipulated. In fact he was so understaffed that some of his security teams literally gave up on the spot and he had to do all the video production of the Mandarin himself as shown in a scene where he was getting different camera angles to publicly kill the President and suggests they do a technical run through first. So you basically want me to believe that not only does Killian basically work alone, but he more resources than S.H.I.E.L.D. and he is able to infiltrate government officials all by himself? He can override all television programming and get to the presidents cell phone and I guess this means I should just assume he has people on the job even though they are never to be seen on camera.

Perhaps Aldrich Killian and AIM are part of something bigger?

I am trying to suspend my disbelief, but wouldn't it be logical for the next guy in command take over after Killian is dead? Since this is such a vast organization should I also assume that other people are still in charge? Wouldn't it be pointless for Iron Man to blow up his specialized suits if there is just another imminent attack or will some other superhero actually show up when there is a terrorist threat?

(Oh btw, Killian is as bad of a name as General Grievous... so dumb) 

Besides all of the tech talk and flimsy side character story lines, the movie in it of itself seems very self-serving to mostly Stark. Sure he was trying to recover from the difficulties of ‘New York’ but I feel like he is a little stronger than that as a character. I feel like this was a character piece made for the sole purpose of making Tony Stark seem like a person, but he already was one. He made mistakes in every film and seemed somewhat believable as a person putting their life back together during the Avengers. He eventually makes the sacrifice to put his life on the line and it now it becomes something that gives him panic attacks. From a guy that once dodged a tank shell, was shot at with missiles, killed his lifelong mentor, killed dozens of other ironman drones on top of an evil villain bent on showing the world Iron Man could be injured, fought off an alien invasion, and has been almost killed by his own blood, it seems like a stretch to say that he is now worried about this one other brush with death.

I don’t mean to marginalize his achievements as a character, but Iron Man 3 was not my favorite movie. It was better than the second film, but it still lacked a decent villain (let’s be honest, it was basically just Guy Pierce we hated as we always do), it lacked believability, and it focused on a guy rebuilding his life for the fourth movie in a row.  

Enders Game (2013) BUT IT WASN'T LIKE THE BOOK!

Enders Game (2013) Summit

It’s hard to explain my feelings about this movie because I have waited close to 10 years to see it made correctly. I have waited patiently because I am a fan of the book series and I happen to enjoy great film. For me I love to read books because the capture a wide breadth of story and character development. If you read books you will already feel smarter than most of your friends and colleagues because you get to see viewpoints amassed by those with more experiences. This gives them great depth of character even if they are fictional and it is hard to look at the world in the same way after seeing from the viewpoints of others for so long.

This book series has helped me learn a great deal about myself because often times I find myself thinking like Ender. I weight the options of the greater good and I view humans as if they were an alien species. It helps me to understand a great deal about cultures and why people act as they do. I find Ender very accessible as a character because I emulate a larger strategy plan like he does. I may not have the eidetic memory of a Sheldon Cooper, but some of his quirks are shared with me.

I will say that the movie did not do well with the critics and it certainly failed in the box office numbers. This is depressing to me because again it is a far cry from what critics were writing. This movie had some political implications before it came out because the writer of the book is against gay marriage. I feel like that was a major contributor to the demise of this film. Many boycotted the film and the critics didn’t give it a fair assessment. The people who saw it did enjoy it.

This being said I will take up some of the petty grievances or complaints I have become accustomed of hearing when critics and friends talk about the film.

1.       “It wasn’t as good as the book”

·          Granted. A movie rarely possesses the same complicated themes a book can describe in detail and very few movies have a director that is able to condense the sheer size of a story into a cinematic format (unless they are named Peter Jackson and get unlimited budgets and runtimes).

2.       “It was rushed”

·         Of course it was. It’s hard to name a book adapted movie series that actually wasn’t rushed besides LOTR i.e. Harry Potter, Hunger Game, etc. Movies that are based on characters with mostly inner dialogue always lose the majority of their characters in the movie because you can only see their conflictions and not hear them. This brings me to another grievance.

3.       “Ender doesn’t seem that smart”

·         Agreed to an extent, they failed to convincingly show that Ender was constantly being watched and didn’t want to show his feelings very often. It didn’t show how much he hated Graff even before the Bonzo event. It didn’t show how he brilliantly out-thought Graff on many occasions and many of his actions were meant to make him the leader he wanted to be on his own terms. He was so far beyond his cohorts and he was beloved and hated at the same time, like Julius Ceasar. If they had spent more time in battle school, it would’ve been easier to see how far ahead he really was intellectually. His inner dialogue is very complicated for a similar person of his age. Notice that Katniss seems like a witless moron, but in the book she was much brighter than she appears to be in her film. You can’t adequately explain a character without time and since they had to condense the film, you lost a great deal of his achievements and intelligence.

4.       “Ender was easily manipulated”

·         Wrong. He was manipulated in order to show what he would do in certain situations and in the book he was much younger than he appeared in the film. He accepted many of the manipulations as tests and begrudged Graff for them, but constantly outperformed the expected results. He couldn’t control his life because that wasn’t his concern, but to say that he was easily manipulated in the film just shows that it was is a misconceived understanding.

5.       “The ending was easily foreshadowed”

·         Sure. In the movie it was. I can easily blame the director Gavin Hood for not only leaving out important dialogue, but absolutely failing miserably to continue with the themes of the book. He botched the ending by forcing the film to move at a rate that left regular viewers far behind. For the life of me I cannot understand why he was even allowed to write this. Sure the executive producers could’ve had more creative input, but they obviously couldn’t see past the problems of the script and the feeling of being “rushed” though the movie. I think Card was a part of the process, but never really got the control he wanted. The movie execs probably gave Hood the green light and didn’t want to have any scripts edited during the filming process. The movie itself had passed through the hands of 3 companies that I know of and finally ended up with Summit who failed to provide the story with a real script writer, director, and production company.

That being said I don’t really have an opinion on the critics themselves but their websites could easily be confused with buzzfeed or tabloid journalism at best. Most of the reviewers did not give this film a fair assessment and some of their criticisms while viable are also misplaced. It is easy to say that it was rushed or that it was not comparable to the book, but the honest truth is that this movie was never going to be LOTR or the Hunger Games. It didn’t have the director, the budget, the runtime, the script, or the production company with the stones to do it right. The movie did fall a little flat compared to the book, but I did not think that the message lost much of its potency. The story is captivating and shows us the difficulties of war, the decisions to be made, and the harsh mental conditions it put Ender through. The battle school may have not been moral, but it was necessary. I still thought it was a good film despite what problems I have with it. I didn’t care that it was rushed because it was entertaining and gripping. 

Adam Out.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) It Caught Our Attention Again

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)  Lionsgate

Chances are that if you are reading this post, you are already a fan of the book or of the movie series. I have to admit that these movies are done incredibly well and are able to give the books their due justice. I am also a fan (I even named my car Katniss) and have loved the movies so far.

If you read my site (and I am hoping you do) you already know that I am a fan of JLaw and think she’s a great actress. She is fun and down to earth and everything you would hope a celebrity to be.

Catching Fire was my favorite book of the series and I say that because it is the last one that takes place in the arena and it had an ending I wasn’t expecting. I guess I was always hoping/expecting that Katniss would eventually stop being so selfish and do the right thing and try loving Peeta at least to keep up pretenses for the capital in the hopes that war wouldn’t be necessary. Sadly she is so hostile and untrustworthy that Haymitch is forced to continually lie to her in all situations. She fails to do the small task that President Snow gives her and causes the deaths of many people. You can’t blame Haymitch for his actions because who wouldn’t do the same thing? In order to protect her (even from herself) he is forced to leave her out of the big picture which causes unexpected consequences.

During the film you can tell that something is going on behind the scenes because everyone else is privy to knowledge that Katniss doesn’t know about. When I was emotionally involved in the story I always wished that Peeta would tell her something so that she knew that they would somehow live though this, but it would’ve been impossible. At times it is hard for me to watch the film because of the way the characters treat Katniss. I always felt she was much stronger than she was portrayed as, but I was willing to accept this as a movie flaw for exponential character growth through all the films.

One thing I disliked about the film is that Liam Hemsworth is in it. His gloomy faces and poor emotional deliveries make me want to punch him in the face as often as possible. I know he is loved by women for his looks, but he needs to go. Find a real man to play Gale. Seriously almost anyone else will do.

I liked that they spend a large part of the movie before the games to show the relationship between Peeta and Katniss as well as keeping the Gale triangle alive. I thought it would be hard to juggle all of them, but they did a good job making sure both characters are still relevant. I thought that they could’ve explained the feelings that Katniss had better because the book derives the majority of her personality from her thoughts. The only thing the two movies left out was the inner dialogue of Katniss and although it takes away from the general story of the movie, it is relevant and pertinent to the story as a whole.

For some minimal concerns I have, it is a well done movie and pays homage the book series in many ways. I thought that Catching Fire was the better of the two and I am already excited to see the third. 

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) I Wish It Was A Joke

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The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) Universal

I decided that I wanted to see a comedy last night, but both my lady and I couldn’t decide on which one. She has never seen The Chronicles of Riddick, so I decided to watch this with her. It was just as funny as I remember it. The one-liners were cheesy and the graphics were mostly bad and visually outdated. When you compare this movie to the new one, it is hard to imagine that this could be better or worse, but it is both. It’s an odd compilation to have when the movies are the basis for each story and they are lacking in some things and good at others.    

If you ever stop to watch the Vin reaction shots you almost can’t help but laughing because many times they are out of place. It’s why I consider this movie a comedy. Some of the audio is not synced with the characters and you can tell it was just added in later without reshooting it. I can’t say that anyone would expect this film to be good, but it would’ve been easy for this to be transformed to be a well written screen play.

As movies go this one is partly action as it is mostly filled with ridiculous things that could never happen. The story has the semblance of being something greater but is never able to realize its potential. It also is never able to create its own distinction from other Sci-Fi endeavors and falls short constantly on acting, cohesion, and reasoning.

Throughout the entire story you continually ask yourself why Riddick is where he is. Earlier in the story instead of trying to escape a dying planet with his holy friend (and his family) he decides to go back to where the Lord Commander is in order to avenge his now dead friend. He does this easily and no one is afraid that he killed of the best Necromonger fighters. The Lord Commander basically allows Riddick to escape the armada with little to no effort to entrap him. Another instance of this is right after this scene. After deciding to not save Helion Prime he decides to get caught by the mercenaries that were trying to kill him earlier so he could find his old friend Jack in the most difficult prison to break out of in the system. Knowing that the Necromongers would surely be following him to this location, he plans are altered and he tries to get both himself and jack to safety while trying to help some others from the prison (even though he cares for no one). After just abandoning an entire planet to death and destruction, he goes to a prison and helps people escape with him. It makes no sense. After this ridiculous effort, he decides to go back to the armada to attempt to kill the Lord Commander for the genocide on Furya. Without any thought of getting out of there alive, he decides to go for the assassination attempt (which is not his usual MO).  He fails and is given another chance to join the Necromongers (again).

It’s hard to say that this is a well thought out film. In fact, I am not sure that there was any though given to some of it. I am not sure how movies like this get made, but it was funny to watch. I wish I could liken it to Starship Troopers (1997) which was only made as a joke.

All in all this movie is great for watching bad acting, poor plots, and stupidly fun one-liners. 

Man of Steel (2013) Better Than Expected

Man of Steel (2013) Warner Bros

I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about this film. When I first saw it I could tell that there was something I didn't like about it, but couldn't identify what it was. The second go around there was only one thing that bothered me throughout the movie... it was Louis Lane.

Now in the past I have generally disliked the women characters in superhero films because they have the personality of a potato and never add anything good to the film. They are always a side character that is put in an unlikely situation and should end up dying if it weren't for the superhero. They cant save themselves, they usually don't have any business being where they are, and they have off-putting relationships with the superhero because it materializes out of thin air. These types of characters hold back the development of the story and become a nuisance to watch.

Man of Steel is the opposite of what most movies are because the story is better than the characters in the film. Usually stories are character based and show how they develop overtime. Superman changes a little, but its mostly showing why he feels the way he does. For one, he has two great families. Both of them teach him the value of life and show him the impact of his actions. Both fathers are portrayed by great father figures (in the movies) and they did a wonderful job. You would think that the movie was about the character of Superman, but in all honesty his story is not nearly as interesting as the galactic one being told. The race of alien beings on the planet of Krypton have more substantial interests than some red-headed reporter ever did.

The struggle for resources and political power for dominance of the galaxy far outweigh a skirmish on planet Earth. I was more interested about Krypton and their race of people than Earth. I think this is because Superman is one of the only superheros that didn't gain his powers through radioactive experiments. He wasn't a lab rat, he was born with his powers. His alter ego of Clark Kent is really a critique of the human race. Clark Kent is clumsy, mistake prone, and hesitant to accomplish anything. It really makes you feel small as a human if an alien species were to ever come to down to Earth and live among us.

The characters of the film are captivating because they have actual values, while most of the human side-characters have no impact on anything because they are too weak or realize the impact of their own insignificance. Either way, humans were as worthless in this film as Amy Adams.

Writing of Amy Adams and Characters:

I know that Amy Adams is being nominated for an Acadamy Award for her performance in American Hustle, but that being said she is an annoyance in the majority of the films she's starred in. I don't mind the quirky, intelligent, and straight to the point girl but she's just not great at doing it. She's mildly attractive but she doesn't deliver dialogue well. She has a nonsensical relationship with Superman and it was substantiated in over 3 conversations they had together. If that were real life it would only work with someone that looked like Henry Cavill and it would be as meaningless as this relationship was. It made me angry to think that Superman was unsure of himself and what to do when he had been preparing for it his whole life. Some girl comes by and tells him that she believes in him and suddenly hes superman again. No. Superman is already super as I have already mentioned. He was born differently than the rest of us. He was already a great person with a sense of protecting others. Why did he need anyone to tell him that he was just that? It doesn't make any sense. Why trivialize a man who has worked hard to be the man he was supposed to be and who even sacrificed his own father to do so?

General Zod is an interesting character. He is unable to take over his own planet with a surprise attack, gets his ass kicked by Supermans father (who was a scientist), and is banished by the people he claimed to be too weak to rule. On his way to banishment (instead of death even though they are low on resources already) he claims that Jor-El (the man he just killed) was right and he agreed that the death of the planet was caused by the council of leaders. He is a loser by definition but it allows him to use his hate and animosity to fuel his mission. Throughout the film you find it to be hard for him to be arrogant but he somehow he manages it. You also wonder about his motives because his devious plot is to destroy earth and to save his people who were far more technologically advanced in and revolutionized in ideals. A plot point some of you may have missed, is that he believes his race to be far superior than that of humans (they were in every way). He says to Jor-El that it would be hard for them to struggle to adapt to the foreign conditions of Earth and claiming that for this reason he needed to change it to be more like Krypton. I know that Zod is supposedly intelligent and also a warrior that can rule over his own senses, but he was able to adapt in less than a few hours on Earth and it made him almost a God among humans comparatively. Hard to see a downside to co-existing at this point. 

Jor-El was one of the most believable characters that Russell Crowe has played in years. The character itself is so noble that he chose his own death because of the failures of his own race. In other words, he fell on his own sword. It was noble even though these characteristics are hard for most to understand because it's a foreign concept. He wasn't going to try and redeem his people because they already failed. Sure he could have tried to reunite with his son but he already gave him everything he could. Jor-El is a great lesson to us all and shows that you can give someone a meaningful existence through your actions even if you are not always there. He tells Zod that he was a better man once and that he would honor that man even though they were fighting to save their own race through different means.

Jonathan Kent was also a good character with high moral standing in his community and the film. He is as much a father to Clark as Jor-El and taught him great understanding of his powers. He was the only human in the film I didn't entirely hate. 

I wont mention any more about the characters, but I will say that most of them made sense and made for a great story. Like I said the whole movie would've been better if it wasn't so focused on the character of Lois Lane. I wish she wasn't in the film or an innocent bystander until introduced properly as a real woman that has a real relationship with Clark Kent. Man of Steel was the best Superman film yet and a solid film. I hope they do more in the future. 

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Science!

When you first start thinking about this movie, your thoughts may be reminiscent of the good experience you had at the movie theater or the fun you had when watching it at home, but the longer you think about the film the more you realize about it. I am not trying to say that it wasn't a fun thrill ride that accurately possessed moments of greatness because it did. The problem (beyond several plot discrepancies) is that it is great at first, but then the magic fades.

Many people that have seen the Honest Trailers or How it Should Have Ended videos on YouTube and have already realized that there are several invalid plot points that counteract each other in this film, but to find even more problems all you have to do is go further down the rabbit hole.

For instance, if you are willing to forget about the “super blood” and the personal trans-warp device rendering Star Fleet obsolete then you may already have some other questions pending.

(To preface this part you should know that I am not an astrophysicist)

For instance, when they are shot out of warp they were (according to the dialogue) 237,000 Km away from earth, which is at the Earth-Moon L1 liberation point (which is between the moon and the earth) you may wonder if they would be able to actually fall into earth’s gravitational pull. According to the European Space Agency we know that there is a balance point of gravity between these two masses at 326,000 Km away from earth. At this point you would technically be perfectly balanced between the Earth and Moon. Since they are not far enough away to be at that point, we know they would actually be in the Earth’s gravitational pull where they would be in fact be plummeting toward the earth. Although they would be freefalling toward the earth they would be traveling at a speed which is approximated around tens of Km an hour. .. an hour, so it’s safe to assume they would’ve all been floating there for quite some time. This is math that is technically leaving out the fact that they were thrown out of warp parallel to the earth which means they could have ended up anywhere in the world, but all in all the film has the space mathematics comparable to a Britney Spears music video if even I can disprove them.

Now that you are finished watching the Britney Spears video I think it’s safe to assume we can move on to the actual movie review.

Although you get decent performances from Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachery Quinto (Spock), both of them are overshadowed by one of the best actors of our time. At this point you should know that I can only be referring to Benedict Cumberbatch (although Karl Urban is probably one of the best supporting actors around). I have been “SHER Locked!” for over 3 years now and have been on this guys’ bandwagon since I first witnessed his performance years ago. He is a star now and he is going to be even better in the years to come. Don’t believe me? Check IMDB, because there is an Oscar with his name on it for at least one of his upcoming films and no one has even seen them yet. That's how confident I am.    

As a film you were moved by the relationship between Kirk and Spock and were happy that it did not come to an end (even though it was by means that are pretty ridiculous). I can't say that I disagree with the critical acclaim it received even though the negative assessments are probably more correct than the positive ones. 

I didn't love all the characters as much as I did from the first film, but that was just because they added people to the bridge without much explanation and I still think that more side characters can be added to the core ones which would enhance the story greatly. It is what made the Star Trek series so great in the first place. 

I used to love Uhura, but she was transformed to an emotion filled mess throughout the film only furthering the stereotype that women can’t keep their emotions in check (or their clothes on: see Carol) even in a professional situation.

Carol: As a man I would be lying if I proclaimed to hate seeing Alice Eve in her underwear, but it was an awkward moment for the film because of how unnecessary it was and could’ve been easily avoidable.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is a fun film with good dialogue. At times, you find yourself enjoying many of the supporting characters like Bones, Sulu, and Scotty even more than the main characters. The ending was a similar to the original Wrath of Khan, but I thought it was moving to see the blooming friendship of Kirk and Spock. All in all, Star Trek was absolutely worth seeing and apart from the science it was able to place you into the atmosphere of the movie quite well.

Also I didn't mind the lens flares because I thought they were used well to create a futuristic environment. 

About Time (2013) It's Simply About Time

About Time (2013) Working Title

A pre-reading alert! Last night I was surprised by this film on an emotional level. I wasnt ready for it because it is marketed as a romantic comedy and I didn't expect much from it. That being written, if you are like me and you want to be shocked by the greatness of a movie for yourself. Please feel free to stop reading and know that I completely understand. 

Now if you don't mind, I would like to start out by mentioning that I love British films. They are usually quick, witty, and humorous throughout. You will always find more jokes and quirks throughout these films which makes them extremely re-watchable. I must've seen Hot Fuzz at least 30 times to give you an idea of how much I enjoy these films. 

Do you ever sit down before a movie and have no idea what you are about to watch? Last night I was thinking that I would do my girlfriend a favor by watching a ROM COM. I am a 26 year old male and I like many men abhor most of these films because they are all based on the same plot lines (I know that is a tad hypocritical because action movies have been the same for 4 decades now). For years, I have watched these films and hated myself for it because they always leave a bad taste in your mouth. The characters are usually boring stereotypes that are only enhanced by their critical analysis of the human condition. If I could write the movie industry about it I would tell them. "I GET IT! THE GUY MEETS THE GIRL IN X SITUATION AND THEN SCREWS IT ALL UP, ONLY TO GET HER BACK BY A GRAND ROMANTIC GESTURE!" I would say that, but I am pretty sure they wouldn't read a letter in all caps.

I don't mean to offend my lady viewers or anyone else for that matter. I just wish that Hollywood came up with better plot lines that didn't portray men as all being meatheads that only care about sex while having major issues with their masculinity just as I am sure woman wish that they would stop using actresses that can't act and are only put into roles for the way they look as well. I understand that the quirky woman stereotypes are fun for women to watch, but if I see another freak out 'woman' moment in front of a mirror ( I don't think emotional freak-outs are a woman specific feeling) I may just end it all.

All I can say is that About Time was marketed poorly and with my degree in advertising I feel like I have some legitimacy to say that. This movie was everything but a romantic comedy. It really was just a drama with a comedic draw. There were so many jokes, but they weren't overt like you are used to in the genre. They were well thought out and cleverly delivered.

About Time starts about as awkwardly as most British films, but picks up quickly and I have no problem saying that it may be the best written movie of the year (which is saying a lot because 2013 was a good year for film). Shortly into the film after watching our ginger main character awkwardly fumble about for a few minutes, the bomb is dropped by Tim's father when he explains to Tim that all the men in the family can time travel. It may be hard to picture Bill Weasley as the main protagonist of the film, but he does a fantastic job interpreting what most of us would do in a situation where you could time travel whenever you wanted without any Butterfly Effect. 

Emotionally it's hard for me to react to this film because it's such a rare feeling when watching each character.At first you see the immediate hilarious benefits of the time travel and later on you are begging Tim to go back for a re-do. Everything about this film is perfect. The plot is just the right amount of a shocking, but believable. No 'sciency' explanation for why or how, just that it works. It doesn't take out scenes to explain some poorly thought up mathematical explanation that is riddled with jargon to try to extrapolate information about the time space continuum. It just works. There are however some rules that engage the viewer even more and thicken the plot line, but I really think you should watch the movie for yourself to see it first hand. I really am trying to not ruin this film. 

About 10 minutes in you are already telling yourself how much you love the quirkiness of the characters and situation they are faced with and at that moment you realize how much you are going to love the rest of this film. 

You absolutely fall in love with the main character Tim and are in pain from his actions and in suspense to see what he will do or re-do. Tim is clever throughout, but only because it seems like what a real person would be like with his same ability. At times you are finding yourself begging him to go back in time, but most of the time you love and respect that he stays to see it through. One of the best parts of the film is following the mind set of Tim because many of his ideas you would probably  have yourself.

The characters in this film are written exceptionally well. You immediately love each one and always for different reasons. It was impossible for me to hate anyone in the film (and let's be honest, it is easy for me to find fault in anything).

Tim's father (Bill Nighy) is the best written father character I have seen in years. The perfect time traveling father. 

Even the soundtrack is fantastic, which is a compliment I don't often give. The music never interferes with the story and seems to perfectly cascade with each scene. 

Its safe to presume that I cannot wait to watch this again. Hopefully it is soon and I can pick up on more. I hope that this is a movie you watch soon and you find it to be as extraordinary as I do. From all indications this movie should come out on Netflix and Redbox by Feb 28th. 

Riddick (2013) It's Riddickulous

Riddick (2013) Radar Pictures

Last night I saw Riddick and I already know what you are thinking from the title but let’s be honest with ourselves. Action movies are a dime a dozen, but few of them ever move into the realm of being art because they are either too cheesy, storyless, or overdone. Riddick is all those things, but Vin Diesel is only known for films where he can be the silent hero that has quick one-liners that border on the insanely witty or over-the-top. I wouldn’t say that Riddick is a good watch, but I would like to mention that it is at least entertaining. Since this movie is a sequel, the story tried to pick up where it left off after Riddick becomes king of the Necromonger race for what is supposed to be about 5 years even though the movie doesn't really explain the time very well. Eventually, Riddick gets dropped off by Karl Urban on a planet he thinks is his home world of Furya, but he quickly finds out that it is not. He then has to deal with the difficulties of being on a new planet with new threats. After deciding to become more animalistic and primal he sets out to defeat this cobra like water scorpion monster that breaths out of its scorpion tail (later on in the film he becomes an expert on these creatures as if he has been around them his whole life when in reality is was supposed to be a little over 6 months). Anyway the bulk of the movie is about him taking out a group of mercenaries and playing mind games with them. I don’t want to ruin the whole movie but it will suffice to say that death and one-liners ensue. The cinematography was noteworthy and the director of the series was able to more or less tie in its counterparts Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick although the link was not all that believable. The movie is everything you would hope from Vin Diesel and Riddick. I'd didn’t disappoint and was fun. 

Some Problems:

They do not mention his somewhat immediate healing throughout the movie which proves the theory that Riddick heals faster than Wolverine. I get the broken leg he receives which he heals off after a while but he was stabbed twice with objects that have a larger diameter than a sword. He cauterizes one and the other is just no big deal. 

The animals on the planet gain a somewhat immediate respect for him, which is odd but fits the character even though it does not fit the story. 

Supposedly after destroying the Lord Marshall (the Necromonger king and was pretty much unstoppable if it weren't for his pride and desire for theatrics) he becomes 'soft' after killing assassin after assassin on what seems like a regular basis. The other commanders are supposed to have sent these, but none would face him one vs one in single combat (because obviously he is soft.) The question remains as to how he was soft after having to kill assassins regularly on top of being feared by all the other Necromonger commanders, which was exactly what the Lord Marshall before him used to keep everyone in line.  

As a side note one of these assassins meets to his sexual needs which are not apparently met by several other women even though the necromonger race doesn't procreate and has even referred to regular human beings as "breeders."

Riddick seems to be omnipotent throughout the movie to explain what people are going to do and understand the climate changes/animals of the planet he was abandoned on. 

I cannot think of other glaring problems that I would like to address, but I may come back and update this if I ever watch it again.