Sunday, November 23, 2008

Twilight

So I had to see what all the hype was about. I wasn't a reader of the novels. Hell, until last month I didn't know there were any novels. I thought this would be a good chance for me to watch a movie and critique it on no previous knowledge of the film.



First off, the fans of these novels will say this is a forbidding love story. That it is, but it the basic Romeo and Juliet story. You know the drill. They love each other but there are all these reasons why they shouldn't. As for the story, I thought it was a bit too easy. It is like they fall in love just because they are not alike. They barely talk to each other for the first part of the movie. The girl falls for the guy cause she is more interested in discovering the truth about him, and the guy is alot like a stalker. Well he is a vampire. I just thought the binding everlasting love was most likely not translated as well from the book to movie. Got to make it quicker on the screen for all the dumbies, right?

Ok on to the vampires. Aren't vampires suppose to be scary and awesome?! Well not these vampires. Usually when I get done watching a movie about vampires, there is nothing more I'd rather be than a vampire. I want to fly, stalk, hunt, and talk to people like they are inferior species with my yellow eyes and fangs. It would be so cool. But after this movie there is noway I wanted to be like these vampires. They were wimps. Polite and courteous.....blah. The only cool thing any of them would do was run up trees. WOW, you could totally win the lumberjack games.

Even the "bad" vampires were lame. There was one and he was disposed of quite easily. Where is the epic battle to the death...Highlander style? And really is there anything such as a "good" vampire? Oh I want to bite you but I will resist it and be your friend instead......blah blah blah. Screw that rip her freaking neck out! I got to say the best line of the whole movie was, "you're like my own personal heroin." Great line. I'm going to start saying that to girls I meet. HA!

Ok so I bet the books are great. Since I didn't read them. I can't really say anything about those books. I just didn't get that "this is so cool" feeling that was suppose to be projected from this movie. The supernatural stuff wasn't "super" enough. The movements of the vampires didn't seem so awesome either. I've seen it all before. Being able to see the quick movements the vampires isn't everything, i.e. The Lost Boys. You're going to sit there and tell me with all that CGI technology out there you couldn't make these vamps look cooler? And what is with the Gitter skin?!!!

Twilight gets a l - lame, because I wasn't blown away by it. Half way through it I didn't even think it was entertaining, I just had to pee. It was a same old love story formula with no real defined payout. No tragedy. No plot twist. No happy ending. The whole movie can be summed up like this: girl moves to new town, she meets vampire boy, they "somehow" fall in love, vampire saves girl from other vamps. One last thing. Also you're going to tell me that no one else in this town has any idea that these people are vampires? They all just accept that they are all strange. Bullshit! I guess I should have read the novels instead.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Quantum of Solace

Legendary Movie Review is Back!

And so is James Bond.....or so I thought



Now I for one was stoked about the new direction of the James Bond franchise. Casino Royale took the character back to the beginning, (call it a reboot if you'd like) and made Bond tougher, dirtier, smarter, and even cockier. James Bond wasn't only a secret agent but also a human, who gets scratched and bruised throughout his battles with evil.

Now bring on Quantum of Solace! This film is suppose to be the continuation of what happened at the end of Casino Royale. Basically Bond is on the hunt for the man behind killing his girl from the the first movie.

Right from the get go this movie is action packed. It starts with a high speed car chase and never stops from there. The movie is filled with action. Every scene is either an action sequence or a transition to an action sequence. I can't really tell you what the story is about. Something about finding out information about an organization that no national secret agency has any idea even if it exists.

Overall I'd say that this movie delivers. If you wanted to see some awesome Bond fighting stunts....it delivers. If you wanted to see Daniel Craig kick ass....it delivers. If you wanted to see Bond as the coolest man on earth....it delivers. What is doesn't deliver .....STOP RIGHT NOW IF YOU DON"T WANT TO GET SPOILED, GO TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH NOW......is an ending. Casino Royale's ending was great. He shot a man in the leg and introduced himself with the famous line Bond, James Bond. Quantum's ending is week. It is a downer. What happened?! We don't get anything resolved. Yes, he finds the man he was looking for but what does he do with him? We don't know. And what about the organization? Do we get an insight of what this organization does, or any leads on who is behind it? NO! And what the hell is the Quantum of Solace?! I'm guessing this is all set up to the next Bond movie that will no doubt be made within the next few years. Christ! I have to wait all over again. In a way it is brilliant, they make you want more James Bond action.

With that said, Quantum of Solace is a great action packed Bond film. It gets an A - Awesome just for that alone. It may not live up to Casino Royale but hopefully it will be a transition needed to greater Bond films in the foreseeable future. Go see it if you like James Bond in anyway.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Revamp in Progress

So the site pretty much died after the Dark Knight hit the street. Sorry about that. I went to see it like five times and thought it to be a little redundant to keep reviewing it.

But the show must go on! I had alot of fun this summer going to movies with my friends and writing crapy reviews (cough....my pov's)about movies. So I decided to keep the train a comin'. Be on the look out for more reviews and changes coming to the blog site soon. Plus the brand new countdown to summer movies '09.

Coming to a theatre near you!!

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Dark Knight

It is 6 am. I just got out of the Dark Knight. 3 am IMAX showing, yeah!!!



Bale was amazing! Eckhart was awesome! Ledger was extraordinary!



The movie is LEGENDARY!!!!

I have more but I'm tired right now so I'll update this later.

UPDATE: 7/20
And here.....we.....GO

Just saw the movie again.
It is flawless!

The Joker steals the show. There are all these talks about Heath Ledger getting an Oscar for his performance. I disagree. I think that will only tarnish this amazing performance of the Joker. More would center around his death than the fact that he brought his scary sociopathic character to life. As soon as you see the Joker in the scene your eyes lock in on him to try to see the actor. There is none. You see only the Joker. Brilliant!!!

The Joker may steal the movie but it is not all about him. This is how a origin story is meant to be done. By that I mean the origin of Two Face. Many would like to see the the origin of the Joker, but that would just ruin the Batman world Nolan has created. Anyways if you're a fan of comics you already know that there are multiple versions of the Joker's origin. I prefer "The Killing Joke"......read it!

Back to Two Face. This story being the rise and fall of Harvey Dent couldn't have been done better. Unlike in Batman Forever....which was awful to look back on now. Nolan brought realism to the Batman world. This could happen to people. He makes you believe. Plus Aaron Eckhart was great! His transformation into the villian was dead on.

And we can't forget about Christian Bale. Again he proves to be the best Batman ever!I think what makes him good is how he plays Bruce Wayne. Others made Bruce to be alittle standoff-ish and eccentric. Bale plays three different Bruce Waynes. The playboy selfish billionaire for the world to see. The truthful caring man for his "girl" friend. And the reckless still needing guidance "youngman" for Alfred. Man, talk about awards. He should get four for playing four characters.

Other brilliant's go out to Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman. They all did great jobs in their roles, especially Oldman. Another guy that can make the role into something more, something real. (Side note: I love how everyone calls him "the" Batman with reference to Frank Miller's Return of the Dark Knight and Batman: Year One) Maggie Gyllenhaal...eh....not much there. I really didn't feel her, but she probably did better than Katie Holmes.....HA!

Finally a movie of this summer goes all the way to the top. Dark Knight gets L- Lengendary. It will go down in history as not only the best Batman movie, but it might even push Superman the Movie (original) off the top as best comic book movie. If you haven't seen it yet.......quit your job, email will keep, skip the gym, whatever you are doing stop it and go see this movie. NOW!!!


Up next.......I have no idea

p.s. How about the Watchmen trailer?! How geeked out are you? If you don't have any idea what Watchmen is about, go pick up the graphic novel at your local book store.

Update #2: 7/21 Spoiler Alert do not read any further if you have not yet watched the movie!

For open discussion. As for the very end of the movie, what do you think of it? What do you think is the fate of Two Face? I've had some discussions amongst friends. They believe that it is the end. I think different

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

HELLBOY II

The Golden Army is Golden Awesome!!!







Way better than the first movie. Hellboy is a great comic, but nobody in the general public had any idea how great a movie will be. Well now we all know it is as super a cool as the original comic series.

Hellboy II is action packed and has a way more creatures than the first. Ron Pearlman is Hellboy! He was great! Only he will ever play Hellboy which is the best part. No one else could ever pull it off as good as he does. The way he delivers subtle one liners and his comic dialogue is brilliant.

If you were a fan of the first film, then you'll definitely like HB II. Out of the way is the back story, leaving much more time for HB fighting. With the addition of some great new characters that I'm sure will continue throughout more Hellboy movies.

Speaking of that. If you're excited to see more Hellboy adventures....well you're going to have to wait. The amazing director/writer of Hellboy and HB II, Guillermo del Toro, will be busy for at least the next four years with the Hobbit. Which means Hellboy III won't come out (if at all) for six or seven years. BOOO! I'm sure the Hobbit movies will be great!

Hellboy II: The Golden Army gets an A - Awesome. I wasn't expecting much more than the first film. In fact I don't think I really like the first one. This movie may have changed my mind. HB II totally worth a second viewing

UP NEXT THE DARK KNIGHT

Monday, July 7, 2008

Hancock, Wall-E, and wrap-ups

Ok so I got a little behind. So sue me!

This post should get things all ready for the next few weeks.



First up Hancock

If you watched the trailer for this new Will Smith movie, you most likely already know the story. Will plays a superhero with amazing powers. Only problem he is a drunk and an asshole to everyone he meets. Then he decides to change his public image. He goes to jail. He sobers up. Then he becomes a real super hero.

So what is the catch? Well that is the twist, which comes out of nowhere and is a bit too easy. There are no giant monster or evil super-villians for Hancock to fight. He only needs to fight himself.

Hancock is funny and entertaining. Probably the most un-believeable part is the fact that regular criminals actually believe that they can take out an invincible superhero. These men don't know anything about Hancock. They don't discover his weakness and use it against him. I merely are at the right place at the right time. It is actually stupid. I'll say it right now. The only one who can kill Hancock is Hancock.

It gets a E - Entertained because Will Smith is funny like always. It was worth the movie ticket but don't spend extra on popcorn


WALL-E

The best part about watching a Pixar movie is that you forget that you are watching a catroon. Wall-E is great. It is silly, fun, and exactly what you would expect from Disney and Pixar. Hey they can make a faceless robot look mean and evil. You try to do that!

Not much to say here other than I liked it. It wasn't the best of the Pixar movies, but then again they have alot to live up to. I say go see Wall-E if you just want to fill like a kid for two hours.
Hey, I like cartoons. I don't think that you need to stop watching them as you get older. Animation is a great art form and deserves to be respected. Sometimes I wish I followed my boyhood dreams of drawing comics or cartoons. Wall-E was the best movie experience of the summer. I even forgot to take notes while I watched it. So this review sucks. You know it, and I know it, so let's move one.

It gets an E- Entertained. Although it was funny, I wanted more. Then again it was a cartoon.

Others

My co-authors went to see these movies, but they haven't decided to write anything yet. So I'm just going to summerize their comments......so we can get moving.

The Happening - is Crappening. Not worth talking about. It gets a w- WEAK want my money back!

Get Smart - is alright but not "Smart" enough. I still want to see this because I am a fan of the old TV series, but I fear for the same faith that the remake of the Pink Pather brought to us. Please stop screwing up greatness. It gets an E - Entertained

Wanted - is awful. According to Bowser, he should have walked out. Plus the projectist stopped the film half way through the credits. This is a NO NO. Of course we have no clue who these people are, but that is all they get to prove they are actually making something. It gets a l - lame. I might go back to see the credits, and hopefully Jolie naked.

So that should get us up to speed. I may go see those other movies and bring you a real review later, but I doubt it. The big boy movies are coming out soon.

Up next HELLBOY II

Sunday, June 15, 2008

THE INCREDIBLE HULK

HULK SMASH PUNY MOVIES



GO SEE! HULK GOOD!



BIG MOVIE OF ALL TIME





Will someone please take out this egomaniac!

Thanks Jips


The Incredible Hulk is amazing! It is exactly what the first HULK movie should have been. Ang Lee you should just stick with the crouching tigers and gay cowboys, and that's all I'm going to say about that movie.


Back to the Incredible Hulk. Edward Norton is the man! He always knows exactly how to play his roles. He brought the emotion and turmoil of Bruce Banner that was missing in the first film. There was plenty of him too. Don't be mistaking there is definitely alot of Hulk sightings, but the balance of actor and monster was great. Same goes with Abomination. Tim Roth was brilliant! I didn't believe him to be Russian, but that doesn't matter. I believed him to be a badass.


The Hulk animation was flawless. Never once did I think it looked fake or CGI. Mainly do to all the crazy action. The Hulk throwing, crashing, breaking, and smashing everything makes you forget all about CG. Man, movies are going crazy cool into the CGI world. There are plenty of those purest out there who hate the CGI, but I ask how else are you going to make a 8 foot green monster look real. Lou Ferriigno isn't going to live forever.


Speaking of Lou, his cameo was great. In fact all the cameos were awesome. Stan Lee, RDJR, Lou....superb!! (UPDATE: I just learned that Bill Bixby had a cameo!! I missed it! Off the the theater I go)


It is a good thing the SciFi network was playing the old TV show all week. I got a good feel for the movie. Because the movie had the same tone and emotion of that show. Man, Marvel did great this time! I don't know how they ever let that other movie get made. I loved the whole story about how Bruce is just searching for the cure, but along the way he does his best to help people. The Hulk isn't a monster. He is a hero. Uncontrollable....yes. But he is still a hero. It was the little things that made it good. Like Bruce wanting to help the girl in the bottle factory. The purple shorts! The days without incident counter. Finding himself in different countries after the Hulk leaves. The whole Hulk world was made believable.


Also look for Marvel to rule the world in the near future. I wasn't so sure about the crossing-over of characters but I got to say seeing Iron Man in the Hulk is getting this comic fan excited. In the comics the cross-over happens all the time, characters intermingle into each others' worlds. Until now, all the comic movies stayed self contained. Look for Iron Man 2 and Thor in 2010. Captain America and the Avengers in 2011. And most likely another Hulk in 2012. It is going to be a superhero world. Will Thor's Hammer be huge? What evil will Cap face? Are the Avengers going to take down the Hulk? If anyone can keep all these stories in line its Marvel.


My mind is spinning! Super Soldier serum! Abomination! Nick Fury! The Leader! Avengers! HULK rated A -AWESOME!! This one is so close to getting the the best rating. I might go see it again and change my mind. HA!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Sex and the City

Okay, so I told you that I was going to watch every blockbusting summer movie this year and give you a review. You better believe I gonna stick up to my end of the deal! All you have to do is read the damn blog!

Deciding to bite the bullet......take one for the team....whatever you want to use, Jips and I headed out to watch Sex in the City in its movie form.



I never really saw the show. Only a few episodes when I had free HBO back in college. But I get the gist.....they're women.....they're in the city.......they're getting old.....they're having sex.....yada, yada, yada.

On the way to the movie I was talking to Jips. Why are men ashamed to go watch this movie? Sure there are the boyfriends being dragged along and gay men who actually like the show, but where are the rest of the men. This movie is rated R and more than likely will have alot of nudity in it. Then I figured it out. They don't want to be seen as that gross guy, only there to watch it as if it was a porno. They don't want women to ask, "what? are you here for the SEX?"

Well I reply "NO! I'm here for the City!"

So with a plan ready to go, we walked into the theatre with confidence.......then I saw this



Holy shit! I was mesmerized.

If you know me at all, you already know I freakin' love Kung Fu movies. Then I see a giant panda fighting Kung Fu. How come no one hasn't told me about this?! That's it new movie!!
Uno minuto, es problema. We just bought Sex in the City tickets. Then Jips had a giant light blub float above his head....literally. Why not just use the tickets and then sneak into Kung Fu Panda. Brilliant!!! Even better the movies were only ten minutes apart. What's ten more minutes?

KUNG FU PANDA

....was AWESOME!!!!

Whenever Jack Black is just allowed to be wacky and crazy, he is totally amazing. He was a perfect pick for the voice of the panda. If you squint, you might even see Jack on screen instead of the Panda...he was that good.

I was impressed with the animation. It reminded me of good old days of cartoons...but better. It had that extra touch to add realism that all animation is going for these days, but it didn't push it over the top. There was just enough there to trick your eye.

The Kung Fu was great! I thought that the fight scenes animated wouldn't come across as smooth, but I was wrong. Sure there was a few "crouching tiger" slash only happening in a cartoon scenes, but for the most part I didn't have that no way that would happen feeling. Hey, it's a cartoon, right.

The story was very funny. The writing was very witty, probably from Jack. I was cracking up all over the place. It's good to see a movie that doesn't have to go down the "grossed out" joke path to get laughs.

You don't have to be a kid to enjoy this movie. You want to laugh? maybe enjoy a movie experience. Go to KFP! To quote the panda, "No charge for awesomeness", Kung Fu Panda gets an A - Awesome. Jips wanted to go with top rating, but I'm waiting for a movie to just blow me away. KFP was good....even great.....but no quite top rating. Hopefully there are a few this year.

So as for Sex in the City, it will most likely join the ranks of Speed Racer. Look for them on the New Summer Movies Finally Released on DVD Review blog.....coming soon!

Up next...........THE INCREDIBLE HULK

Monday, May 26, 2008

INDIANAAAAAAAAA JONES!

"No time for love Dr. Jones!"

Ok, for a moment, imagine you have never heard of the Legendary Indiana Jones. Just say that you didn't seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Temple of Doom, nor Last Crusade. Maybe those movies never existed. Now go watch the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I guarantee you would be amazed, entertained and possibly blown away. Like looking at this guy



Whenever film makers try to make the next chapter to their legendary movies, the expectations are always raised too high. Example: Star Wars Episode I - p.o.s.

So as Indy 4 started I was not too happy. You see, I believe the internet is ruining my movie watching experience. I've seen the Indy 4 trailer way too many times so I wasn't amazed because I saw all shots from the beginning of the movie already. It just didn't feel right. (I'm going to be in major trouble for the Dark Knight)

But after the opening the movie changed. Suddenly, there were car chases, fist fights, whip action.....all the things you would expect from Indiana Jones. It was best stated by Bowser, "It was like they turned on the Indy Switch"

Although I disagreed with the CGI scenes, I loved everything else. Indy has been and was a fun entertaining movie. I loved all the action scenes! This was the best part of the movie. Some parts were cheesy and unnesessary. Also it never felt like the bad guys were going to win. This time it was like Indy has done all this before, so he wasn't really worried about losing.

Was this the Indy movie we were all waiting for? Probably not. I don't think anything could live up to its legend. Was this Indy movie a good fun movie? YES! Harrison Ford is still super cool playing Dr. Jones.

Right after the movie I was ready to give it top rating, just because of its connection to the other Indys. But I've taking a step back and I want to get this correct. If this was 19 years ago would I have thought Last Crusade was worthy of a L. Dare I say NO??????

Crystal Skull gets an E - Entertained. I loved watching the movie, and in time it may grow to become just another part of the Legend of Indiana Jones. You can't replace the past. I'm glad that Lucus and Spielberg finally made it. I hope they don't go on to ruin Indiana Jones with new adventures of "the son of Indy"........crap!

Quote of the night, "There are more M&M's in this bag than first thought"

Next up???? Speed Racer took a back seat this time. Hopefully I'll make it, but review doesn't look too good. After that........Incredible HULK!!!!!!

Also if you want to see a very angry man's take go here. He explained everything I disliked about the movie in better detail.

Choa!

Monday, May 12, 2008

IronMan

This is about a week late....but I don't care. Hey I was busy..... sue me.

IronMan was the first blockbuster movie of the year and it came out cannons blazing



This film rocked! It was full of kick ass action. I was never really a fan of IronMan. I'm more of a Spidey fan, but damn he is freakin cool in this movie. You see, IronMan is known as one of Marvel's greatest characters. Some would argue that he rivals the Hulk and Spider-man as top superhero. I never got into the man of iron cus he is somewhat of a jerk in modern day comics. Although back in the day like in the 70's or 80's he was bad ass.

I think Robert Downey Jr. nailed the character of Tony Stark. He is witty, cocky, intelligent, and all around the coolest guy in the room. Front the start of the movie you get the perfect image of the character. He makes you believe that you are looking at Tony Stark...a real person instead of just an actor. It is too bad the Oscars over look superhero movies. RDJr should get awards for his role.

I was also amazed by Jeff Bridges role. Man, he is getting older. He looks alot like his older brother Beau. At first I didn't recognize him. What can I say I always associate him as being the Dude. He was great though. It is good to see him play a villain.

Let me just say that the IronMan suit was killer! It was designed perfect. I am unsure how much of the movie was RDJr in costume and how much was CGI, but I got lost trying to figure it out. It was just enjoyable to watch the action.

I thought IronMan was excellect. Great way to kick off the summer. It gets an A - Awesome.
Great story - for comic fans and non-comic fans. Great characters. Super action. It is the first must see of the summer, and I'm sure you all saw it already. Like I said I was alittle busy.

Next up Speed Racer!

Friday, May 9, 2008

Welcome Movie Lovers

How nice for you to join us. Welcome to Legendary Movie Review. I am your host Travelin' Miles, and this is the only credible site to find all your summer movie reviews. In the coming weeks, myself along with some other friendly movie critics will be deliverying you the best movie reviews this side of Winnemucca. We've just started, but soon you will be seeing biggest changes and lots great reviews.

First off you will get to the review of the first summer blockbusting movie. Here's a hint.....the man is made of iron. Hopefully each week will have new reviews on all the summer's greatest hits.

Buckle up and enjoy!

Update: Rating Legend

L - Legendary
A - Awesome
E - Entertained
l - Lame
w - Week, I wannt my $ back