Somewhat after seeing the feature film I found myself craving to learn more about the property. I found myself reading the graphic novel, watching interviews and documentaries on the making of this movie and the book that inspired it (iFanboy 111 & 112). I’ve even tried my hand at the demo if The End is Nigh, a Watchmen brawler. All that to say, that the movie can give you so much content to think about. Not just plot wise or the themes of humanity. The film itself, by the way it’s made, tries to provoke. I clearly remember telling myself halfway through the movie: “I don’t think I’m really going to like this movie”.

But somehow by the end, everything made sense. The awkward music, the shots, the convoluted dialogue, the nudity. Everything came full circle, that may very well be attributed to the fact that I had not read the graphic novel prior to seeing the movie. I did not know the conclusion, I did not know who lived and died, who the villain really was. Discovering those characters was by definition a “geekgasm“; the character of Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan alone, were more developed than Spider-Man was in three movies. The opening sequence provides, on it’s own, an amazing amount of back story into the Watchmen universe. I’m not a history buff, and I clearly missed on several references, but the existence of these masked heroes altered the timeline as we know it.

America dominates in Vietnam, thanks to their super-powered hero.

The movie was rated R, meaning people under 17 have to be accompanied by a consenting adult, we’re clearly departing from comic book properties targeted at kids. The movie is DARK, DEPRESSING, VIOLENT, CRUDE and GRITTY. By doing so, it feels grounded in reality, the same way Battlestar Galactica feels. It’s like Science fiction, with less fiction. The movie sticks the original material like a gum under your shoes, dialogue and shots are reproduced with great fidelity. We have Zack Snyder to thank for this feat, the work he did for 300 surely helped some fans understand he could pull it off.

In my book, I consider this movie to be a triumph, what it represents as a medium, art form, entertainment media. It does justice, in my opinion, to a graphic novel that was considered “un-filmable”, this property was put in the spotlight, sales of the book sky rocketed in anticipation of the movie. But I consider myself happy to have experience the film first. Things are constantly thrown at you stimulating your brain, when it comes to reading content, everyone has his pace, can take the time to discover the subtleties of each frame. You experience a movie as a whole, not knowing and discovering can be a blessing. What I learned about Rorschach was truly disturbing and came right at me. No famous Hollywood actors where used in this picture, many I’ve seen before, but they out performed any of my expectations. This movie goes right beside V for Vendetta in terms of meaningful movies.

Feel free to share love or hate in the comments.

I first heard about Watchmen on The Totally Rad Show comic book section as this film will be based on a critically acclaimed graphic novel from the likes of how 300 was developed from a similar source material. I don’t know much about the premise, mostly their seems to be super heroes and super villains. The comic book genre is gaining steam and as long as they pump great movie adaptations they will continue making them. This trailer looks amazing… that’s all!

It boils down to be a really fun movie! That’s what you call an adventure epic, there is comic relief, amazing sight seeing and unexpected plot twists. The movie starts off with our heroes already captive from KGB operatives in search of a mysterious box. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr. is not the kind of hero that requires an armor, mutant powers or lots of cash, he’s just working with what he’s got and survives stuff you know you just wouldn’t.

However fans of the original series might feel cheated as this movie was produced in the 21st century with all the means available today including CGI (computer generated imagery). When you think about it, many shots would of been near impossible to create in the 80′s with out the use of some funny miniature model. I came into this movie really spoiler free aside the few trailers out there I had no idea of what I would be getting. It’s probably a good thing for you too, because talking about the supernatural elements present inside this movie would spoil part of the mystery. All I could say is that this Crystal Skull would open The Ark and drink from the Holy Grail and still be up for a party.

I’ll have a special mention for Cate Blanchett that played a fine villain that I did not recognize at all. She played that character very well. There is also the rising star Shia LeBoeuf, that played a kind of “side-kick” to Indiana Jones.

Overall it was a very nice cinematic experience, despite the fact I had to sit in the first “very first” row in the theater. This movie was somewhat more enjoyable than Iron Man I’ve seen recently. I kind of felt the peril of the characters and I didn’t want their adventure to end in a bad way. I actually cared for the characters. So whether you are young or old there is no reason not to see this movie. It’s a great summer flick and it leaves a soothing after taste. Some critics reported that it didn’t quite feel like an Indiana Jones movie and that it could of been any action hero… I don’t think so, of course there are many nods and reference to pasts events but there is enough there to feel like there is a lot of back story. I will most definitely go rewatch the previous movies.

The genius he is, decides to build a robotic suit instead of the missile in an attempt to escape. Obviously this prototype is far from the final product he’ll be able to accomplish in a lab with top level equipment. Imagine Batman with more money!

So did I like it? Meh! It’s a good movie, it was pretty fun. But their was no shivers for me. For some reason I could not connect deeply with the characters. A friend pointed out that there wasn’t enough drama, and to that comes back the connection with the characters, the damsel in distress did not seem in such an immediate danger. This movie is mostly a cool display and what is totally awsome in life and if you had money you could get. You’re looking through a glass window, it’s like looking at that Porche and see how awsome it is. I think you’ll have a good time at the movies if you watch Iron Man. It’s a fun adventure, slow paced start and not enough of Iron Man in his suit to my likings. But as I’m sure they’ll make sequels this movie is a great introduction of a character. Be sure to catch a cameo of Iron Man in the upcoming Incredible Hulk coming next month.

The idea is simple, someone put up a website called KillWithMe where he streams over the Internet the slow death of a victim. The twist is that it’s actually the viewers that kill because the death is initiated by the viewing of the website. The more people that log on to see the torture, the faster the murder occurs. You would think that since the murderer is annonymous at the beginning and seems to know quite alot about how the FBI agents function there would be a big twist reveal of his identity. I guess they got bored with the mystery and decided to place the movie with an other direction where the bad guy decides to stalk and attack the lead investigator in the case.

The movie ends like a car crash with no clear resolution. Aside the conclusion that a lot of people on the Internet are cluless and very gullable. There are some really annoying product placement like Windows Vista being used on every computer and where every window looks like it’s a media player one. On Star joins the fun but proves that somehow a skilled hacker could break into your cars computer, lock you in and threaten your life. None the less, it’s not a boring movie, things are happening and you have the kind of involvement when you keep telling yourself why didn’t she do this or that.

Wait for it to go on TV, it might be worth it then. 6 out of 10 –

Shaolin Soccer
Imagine you take one part Soccer, and you mix it up with one part Kung Fu you will get one of the most intriging Kung Fu sports movie you’ve ever seen. Stephen Chow was relatively unknow until his action hits became mainstream. This movie was popular enought to come out of Japan and reach the north american market. I watched the dubbed version because I did not feel like reading through all the subtitles but I am not one to avoid a movie simply because it is subtitled.

The movie starts off during a soccer match were you witness the injury of a famous player under suspicious circumstances. Years later you see this players career destroyed and reduced at being a simple janitor. He would like to become coach of his own soccer team and he is denied by his old nemesis now his employer. Figure the total humiliation.

On the streets, he comes to know a young men who wants to make a living out of teaching Kung Fu and he explains that Kung Fu can help anyone improve their life. After noticing his power kick he decides to enroll him and his brothers in the Soccer Cup in hopes of gaining the main prize. At first the team looks like sore loosers that could barely put a foot in front of the other, however through trials and error they learn the basics of soccer and awaken their Kung Fu wich gives them an opressing advantage against any team.

Success is almost certain except when they encouter the elite team that was injected with powerful “American drugs” that allow them to match them hit for hit, and give them the upper hand. You go beyond the realm of what could be considered possible when everything is taken out of proportion but it is a fun ride to go along. On a side not there is a love interest that become quite central to the success of our heroes but one message sent is very forced on us. The main character loves her for who she is and her Kong Fu and keeps saying she is beautiful despite the very obvious scarness of her face. Pretty cool to see and worth your while.

Kung Fu Hustle review will come up in the next few days.

Trailer:

The Spiderwick Chronicles is about a family where three kids and their mother decide to go to an old country house. Fairly quickly they discover that there is much more to this world then what you can see with your own eyes. One of them finds a mysterious book that holds all the information of the magical creatures that can be found in the surrounding woods.

Consider this movie pretty straight forward, the bad guy wants a hold on this book because it will allow him ultimate power over this world, he is a Ogre that can shape shift in animals and people alike. Like any movie were kids are the heroes, the mother is the last to believe what is happening and the kids usual habits turn from silent to loud, dull to adventurous. It was pretty fun and the visual effects were pretty interesting.

Overall I will recommend seeing this movie down the line, even if not in theater it would be a good rental. For the fun of it I’ll give it 8 out of 10!

I’m not too hot for the cast, Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau. But if you were craving for a new action show, you will be served. Forget about the slow paced Heroes, or the mind bending Prison Break. This show has a very long name; Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and takes itself very seriously. Sarah Connor is still ready to fight robots to make sure her son his safe and Skynet never comes to existence and destroy the human race. She is sure she can still stop it what ever happens and she is not giving up. Similar to the plot of the previous terminator movies, future Skynet sends assassins to kill John Connor (leader of the human resistance), and the future John sends a reprogrammed Terminator to protect him. It’s a constant struggle that could last until the day Skynet takes over in the present. Those events happened in the third Terminator movie, so you could say that this movie is not a direct sequel but is evolving in a parallel storyline.

The movies deserve the name of classics and this series is a nice nod to expand the universe. You can be sure that I will be tuning in every week to get my fix. The next new episode will air on FOX, on Monday February 4th.

I never hype to much about a movie, it’s the best way to enjoy your time at the movies. In this case it served me well and I ended up liking the movie a lot. It’s even possible I liked it over the first two movies. There were three villains (Venom, Hob Goblin and Sandman). I didn’t really care about exposition. I just wanted what I had from my cartoons where Spiderman had to deal with many villains at a time. There never was an episode centered on just one villain, why take two hours for just Octopus or the Green Goblin.

The visual effects where pretty good but I have to say that on many occasions I though they were making Sandman look like Godzilla, giant monster busting things… it’s cool but it’s a freaking sand figure, hulk like. Just picture this, on it’s opening day, it bashed the previous record it’s first movie had made and crushed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest that held the record last year. Read on the article at Box Office Mojo. Don’t miss out on this movie, it’s a really good one and will make a nice challenge to the other summer blockbuster. A quick guess, since that many other great movies are to be released I decided to go on it’s release weekend, not because I couldn’t wait for it. But because I’ll have other movies to look for in the weeks to come.

Beware! The movie has serious flaws, it brings NOTHING new, it’s the same save Mary-Jane, my love life is a wreck, I have to deal with my powers.

The episode starts with Ando and Hiro inside Isaac loft, in a devastated New York and rather post-apocalyptic New York. The bomb did explode and destroy half the city. People with special abilities are now being hunted down out of fear. Sylar appears to be publicly held responsible for the disaster but Hiro (present and future) are determined to change time. Strange twist is that many characters are absent, dead or killed during the episode. Mr Bennet, with the help of Hana are helping people with special abilities get new identities and go underground. Matt is now head of Home Land security and answers directly to Nathan, now President of the United States of America.

From early trailers his attitude seemed very strange, especially towards Claire and how condescending his view of the others was. Present Hiro is taken captive and under wraps by Matt and the Haitian. I was looking forward Peter using his abilities and we got to see a little bit of his potential, but we’re still far from a show-down. The show wouldn’t be that great if Nathan turned into a bad guy, instead it turns out that Sylar had found Candice and was able to impersonate Nathan. No better position to round up people with special abilities and pick all the abilities he wants. His painting of the future that he drawn in last week episode was foreshadowing a mean looking Nathan, for myself I saw it looking as Sylar himself in the White House.

No need to be too sad about that episode, everything can still change. Just like future Hiro was able to tell Peter to save the cheerleader altered his reality (perhaps). Hiro has tried to kill Sylar but he could regenerate then. He can’t do that in our time line, so during the last few seconds of the episode Hiro and Ando manage to return to their time line in hopes to prevent this horrible future to happen. There was a quick scene where Peter and Sylar meet, fire versus ice and a Mohinder trying to block a door about to explode. I can imagine the budget for a show down has to be saved for the two hours finale. Only three episodes left! The pace is kicking and the show still sends out that vibe: it’s a dark world we live in, people will do good and evil. I loved the episode. I’ll make sure to watch it again.

Now for the one liners recaps, Baltar is freed for his accusations as Lee pleads that the trial is built on emotion and that many in the fleet made mistakes before and were all forgiven but him. Gaeta is really turning it to be bitter as he lied on the stance about Gaius signing a death warrant. The really good part is when they make a jump to a new system where they are to find yet an other clue to get to Earth.

What’s that? Florida you say? No way they can’t get to Earth so fast, hopefully it’s just a shot and it doesn’t mean what you think. At best we can say that it does exist and it’s not just one big joke. All I can say that you are surprised and shock by who end up being the final five Cylons and how they react to it. Remember after Boomer realized she was a Cylon? Kinda of assasain waiting to be unleashed. It’s going to take 10 months before we get more answers, if you haven’t seen the finale yet you better find a way to see it, it was brilliant.