Jul/100
The Joss Whedon Experence
I really want to go to the San Diego Comic-Con and geek out live and in person at all the awesome panels. One of these days I will but until then I have Youtube and all the news blogs out there to thank for sharing the nuggets of excellence SDCC has to offer.
As many are aware, at SDCC they announced that Joss Whedon will be directing the Avengers film for Marvel Studios. Of course, for those of us who drank the Joss Kool-aid, this news is nothing short of epic. For the rest of you, just check out this epic ensemble at Joss’ disposal and there is no denying the synergy of excellent that this film has going for it.
Jul/090
Netflix Night: Punisher War Zone
Just sat through Punisher War Zone and wow, talk about a murder ride of a movie. They cranked up the violence to 11 this time around! I was one of the few folks who actually liked Thomas Jane as Punisher but he was a Pillsbury Doughboy next to Ray Stevenson. Grim. Hard ass. Ruthless. The making of said he looked like a Tim Bradstreet cover come to life and I’d have to agree. Kudos for the fan service. Sure, they played up the whole “I just kill bad guys and get bummed when good guys get hurt” angle but only to try and give his razor honed one dimensional character a margin of depth. It’s like when adult flicks try to have acting or some kind of story. No matter how hard they try there’s no denying what folks are there to see! In this case, bring on the murder! For justice of course! When buy guys die horribly by a crazed vigilante it’s not bad! It’s public service!
The film did have some funny moments. The cops are a mild sort of comic relief but personally it’s the ridiculous array of kill shots had me laughing out loud. I got two words: Rocket Launcher. Hands down, the best death by rocket ever put on film. I had to rewind and watch it again. Classic.
One thing nice about this Punisher flick was the fact that it did not try to do the whole origin story again. Lets be frank (zing!), we all know the story of Castle and if you don’t then you’ll learn it in a 45 second flashback. Now, back to heads exploding and guns akimbo! Did I mention this movie was violent? Check out the clip I embedded and you’ll get an idea of the gooey center of Frank’s opponents.
As far as the supporting cast goes, I can’t say any of them really stood out as exceptional although I did enjoy Newman from Sienfield as Microchip. The fact that they even had Microchip had my comic book nerd senses all aflutter. Those who have read the comic will understand. Jigsaw as the villain was a classic choice for the comic and the actor who played him pulled it off okay. He was basically just a mobster goon who gets his face jacked up. Nothing spectacular although he was a refreshing nemesis compared to the generic offerings of Travolta in the previous film. Okay yes, the Russian in the Jane flick was sweet but he only had the one great scene.
So would I recommend Punisher War Zone? Heck yeah! Punisher fans will mess their pants. Action film fans will not be disappointed. If Sense and Sensibility is more your speed then you may wanna go elsewhere.
Jul/090
Netflix Night: Tongan Ninja
“Finally a motion picture that combines the martial arts splendor of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with the musical magic of Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon.”
Yeah, that about sums it up! Tongan Ninja was a pretty silly martial arts parody with a few musical numbers from the genius minds of Flight of the Conchords. The production style did a great job of evoking that 1970′s martial arts film vibe complete with incredibly bad dubbing. What makes the dubbing genius is the fact that it’s kiwi’s (that’s New Zelanders to you koalas) speaking English dubbed over English speakers. Jemaine Clement was brilliant as not only Action Fighter, the nemesis to the Tongan Ninja, but also as the voice over dub of the Tongan Ninja himself!
My only complaint is that there were just not enough musical numbers. If I had to guess I’d say it was probably 65% Enter the Dragon and 35% Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Here is a link to the theatrical trailer if you’re interested. It’s funny but not nearly as awesome as the opening credits that I embedded at the top of the blog entry.
May/082
Iron Man: The Beginning of a Franchise
Let me preface this with a quick note: Iron Man was the first Marvel comic I ever collected. I’d say it was the first comic ever but that was beat out by Spawn but no matter. Iron Man was hands down my first favorite hero. When I first started playing super hero rpgs all my heroes were Iron Man knock offs, most notably The Awesomizer and Dr. Keen. I believe it’s that the tech suit hero really appeals to my fondness for gadgetry and technology. There’s just something about a guy in a suit that can do amazing stuff that is just way more bad ass than all those mutants and altered heroes that are out there.
So you can imagine that I had high hopes when I finally got the opportunity to watch Iron Man. Well friends, believe the hype. Iron Man is hands down one of the best super hero movies I’ve seen. Robert Downey Jr. WAS Tony Stark. He was every bit the witty millionaire playboy war profiteer who finds his conscious. As expected, this film was an origin story but only about 1/3 of the film was dedicated to Iron Man action. However, thanks to RDj’s performance you never grow tired of his Tony Stark out of his armor. In this movie, Tony Stark and Iron Man wern’t two different identities. Tony Stark WAS Iron Man. I don’t know how else to put it. It just works and you don’t feel like you’re watching two different characters like in so many other super hero movies.
For the long time Iron Man fan there were elements of the movie that really brought a smile to my face: Rhodes looking at a suit in the shop and telling himself next time, the Iron Man as a bodyguard cover story, the presence of Jarvis even if he was an artificial intelligence. There were just so many little nods to the history of Iron Man that would make any geekly fangirl lactate.
Of course, hats off to Jon Favreau. From Swingers to Elf to Iron Man. The guy is an entertainer fo’ sho’. He even cameos as Happy Hogan in the movie!
So I guess what I’m trying to say is if you have not yet seen the movie please go do so. Plus, be sure to stay for the special scene after all the credits. It’s not to be missed.
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