X-Men: First Class sets the curve

I finally had my opportunity to see X-Men: First Class, and in my humble opinion, this is the best of the bunch. While there were some questionable choices, including some of the characters they chose to include, all in all, this was a great effort and a very entertaining watch. The time period was used well, and never got really cheesy, as is such a danger with anything set in the 60's. Special effects & makeup were solid, and the pacing was spot on.

The casting for the main 2 characters was dead on, and after this, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Michael Fassbender fast tracked to play James Bond. Admittedly his Irish lilt popped out in a few scenes which consequently jolted me out of his portrayal of Magneto, but that's about the only criticism that I could come up with in regards to his performance. James MacAvoy played the role of the dickish yet brilliant Professor X to perfection. January Jones, not so much, as I'm pretty convinced that she couldn't act her way out of a paper sack. Unfortunately emotions are hard, but at least she was nice eye candy, and the effect they used for Emma's diamond form was amazing!

As per usual I don't want to give anything away, but there are some cameos that are nothing but pure awesome. In fact, if I could just have a movie of Professor X & Magneto schmooze with prospective mutant recruits, I'd be completely down.

Anyway, go see this flick, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just don't bother staying past the credits, as there's no sweet extra scene attached to this one. Enjoy!

Holding out hope for the First Class. Will my blue ring break?

So, X-Men: First Class opens tonight, and I face it with a mix of excitement and trepidation. After all, X-3 damn near single handedly sunk the franchise, and the Wolverine movie almost put the nails in the coffin. Now with a 60's retro flair, will Matthew Vaughn succeed and bring this venerable franchise back to life or is it going to be dead like disco?

It's a little weird to admit, but this is the first comic book movie that my lovely wife Racheal has been more excited to see than I. CONSIDERABLY more excited. Like freaking out excited. I, on the other hand, have been approaching First Class with caution and guarded optimism. Every little clip that I see instills hope, but on such a tenuous foundation that it could all come crumbling down in an instant. I guess we'll see this weekend, after which I'll post a spoiler free review.

83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes seems to indicate that maybe, JUST MAYBE, they got it right this time. =)

Thor is a Hammer Throwing Good Time!

I just got back from my midnight showing of Thor, and wanted to get my initial reactions down before they are lost in a sleepy haze. Just as a heads up, this review is pretty much spoiler-free. Saw it in digital IMAX 3D (not by choice), which I honestly feel takes away from the movie quite a bit as it wasn't used to any great effect & made many of the action and tracking shots blurry. The DLP projected picture came out visibly pixelated, which was only exacerbated by the mediocre 3D effects. If you really want to see this movie in its full glory, go check it out in 2D.


Let me preface this with the following: Thor is no Iron Man, but it comes pretty close. 


I thought Thor was very solid film and a great deal of fun to watch, although it was, in my opinion, the least approachable of the Marvel movies thus far. Most of the earlier Marvel films do a really nice job of holding your hand and explaining every little facet of what's going on so that the casual movie-goer can come in, plunk down their ten bucks, and leave with summer blockbuster jitters. Thor takes a different tack. 


Thor is very thick with references and easter eggs, but fairly thin on explanation. I feel that they made this film with the expectation that the people watching are already familiar with the universe and the players involved, so do not waste much time on introduction. With Thor being a bit less mainstream of a character for your average fan though, Branagh could have spent a bit more time on helping the viewer understand the world and the cast of supporting characters better. He did a wonderful job, however, in making this movie and the subject matter truly feel epic. The set pieces are appropriately out of this world. Whosoever designed Asgard is worthy of wielding Mjolnir, indeed!


The action is great & it has some great comedic moments as well, without making the movie feel campy or goofy. Chris Hemsworth made a great Thor, with a fantastic mix of equal parts confusion, arrogance, bravado and dashing bluster. He also does hell of a job filling out the armor. Anthony Hopkins was awesome as Odin, but that nearly goes without saying, as this role is right up his alley. I truly enjoyed the hell out of the subtlety of Tom Hiddleston's performance as Loki, and am greatly looking forward to his role as the big, bad villain in The Avengers. Natalie Portman as Jane Foster had some of the best lines and reactions in the movie though. Definitely a good step in the right direction for making up for the Star Wars prequels. LOL


I don't want to ruin/spoil anything but let me just say right now that the fight with the Destroyer was AWESOME! You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.


Personally, I think Thor is a great watch and definitely recommend checking it out in the theater, but I'm looking forward to seeing if there's a director's cut release when it comes out on Blu-ray with some more footage.

Take a look behind the scenes on the set of The Hobbit!

Peter Jackson has decided to keep a vlog of the production of the Hobbit, which is bloody awesome for fans of the franchise. Check out the video for some really cool stuff from the first couple days of production. It'll be the best eleven minutes of your day. =D

Hi-Def trailer for Captain America : The First Avenger makes me want to shield sling!

Finally! I was starting to get worried that something was terribly wrong with the Captain America movie. We'd seen a little action and some stills, but that was about it. I had heard through the rumblings in the nerd-o-verse that we were supposed to get a full length trailer at the Superbowl, and was sorely disappointed at the lack thereof.

Well, fellow Cap fans, your wait is over, and damn this looks good! I hope this next round of Marvel movies can live up to the great expectations.

No, I'm Howlin' for YOU!

This is seriously the coolest music video I've ever seen. The level of style and badassery just blows my brain-tube! Goddamnit, I wish they would make this...

Ah well, at least I got the joy that is Machete last year, and I still have Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch coming up. =D Can't wait!

Super 8 looks crazy good

Just caught this trailer up on Topless Robot, and had to share myself. This is shaping up to look like an homage to the awesomeness of the '80 kid group movie, i.e. Goonies and the like.

God knows I'm a J.J. Abrams fan (with the exception of Lost), so I'll give anything of his a shot. He hasn't disappointed yet (again, with the exception of Lost), so I'm pretty sure I'll be hanging out in line opening night, just hoping against hope that a giant monster might send the Space Needle careening right through the loud ass group of teenagers right behind me..