Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Best New Movie Poster(s) of the Week

(Official movie poster for upcoming movie  
Cowboys & Aliens.)




WHY THIS POSTER IS GREAT!:

*Daniel Craig's character's back to the viewer with the mysterious contraption on his wrist in focus. Sans the device, Craig's character's stance is reminiscent of a contemporary Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven movie poster (http://www.impawards.com/1992/unforgiven_ver1.html).





(Alternate movie poster for upcoming movie  
Cowboys & Aliens.)




WHY THIS POSTER IS GREAT!:

*Craig's character in a blue smoky shadow--- highlighting the blue device on his arm.








(Alternate movie poster for upcoming movie  
Cowboys & Aliens.)




WHY THIS POSTER IS GREAT!:

*Craig and Harrison Ford's characters side-by-side in ready-to-fight stances.







(Alternate movie poster for upcoming movie  
Cowboys & Aliens.)




WHY THIS POSTER IS GREAT!:

*Craig's cowboy character standing underneath the alien spaceship.


*The tagline.



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(Official movie poster for upcoming movie  
The Devil's Double.)




WHY THIS POSTER IS GREAT!:

*Dominic Cooper's character and everything else within the poster, is drenched in gold. The look and stance of Cooper's character is very reminiscent of Al Pacino's Tony Montana in Scarface (http://www.hollywoodsouvenirs.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=1265).




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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Brand on Winehouse

I'm shocked, depressed and generally bummed out by what happened in Norway, but I'll get this blog on track in a bit. In the meanwhile, here's a great piece by Russell Brand on the late Amy Winehouse.

Captain America: The First Avenger

I have not said too much about this film, mainly because I kept forgetting about it.  It is crazy to think that Marvel put out two major films this summer (plus, there was the X-Men film, which is also a Marvel comic, but different production company...)  I keep getting surprised by how good the Marvel films actually turn out.  Maybe DC should just allow Marvel to make their movies as well (minus the Batman films).

The movie starts out with Steve Rogers being rejected yet again from being able to sign up for the Army.  Actually the movie starts with a modern day search team finding something in the Arctic.  Anyways, Steve finally gets into the military because a doctor wants him for a special project.  We learn that Steve has plenty of the intangibles, he is very David Eckstein-esque.  He then gets an injection and becomes taller and stronger.  He becomes a super-soldier, but the good doctor is killed, so they cannot make any other ones.  The Army uses Steve to promote buying war bonds.

Honestly, the beginning was entirely too slow.  I get that they wanted to show that Steve was a great kid, and how hard he would fight and never give up.  Why not cut that back a bit and just show the grenade scene and have someone list all his characteristics?  Or something, they could have cut it down a good fifteen minutes.

After that the action picks up and Captain America rescues some soldiers and leads his own team against Hydra.  He then saves the world by crashing a plane into the Arctic Ocean and defeating the Red Skull.  He gets rescued in the modern world and learns that he has been sleep for seventy years.

The Good
-The fight scenes were pretty cool.  He made using a shield look pretty cool and not hokey.  Also, they did not make him ridiculously strong.  Granted, he is strong, but I was afraid we would see him catching cars out of the air, or flipping over a tank.  Not that strong.

-Haley Atwell is pretty damn hot.  The character of Peggy Carter was also cool.  She is pretty tough, and I am sure they will introduce Sharon Carter at some point.  My guess is that the movie makes her the daughter of Peggy.

-Chris Evans did a great job.  He did not come off as the same character as Johnny Storm.  I have always liked him as an actor, although I realize some people do not. 

-I also loved how they set-up things for the Avengers movie, but not so much that it was irritating.  That was a minor problem in Iron Man 2, all the Thor references, which I guess put some people off.  Instead, the references were pretty plot integral.  Red Skull mentions the Cosmic Cube (he calls it the Tesseract) being one of the greatest treasures from Odin's Treasure Room.  Howard Stark was also more than just a cameo, which I thought at first when he was at the World's Expo.

-The ending was pretty much straight from The Ultimates.  Steve wakes up and they trick him into thinking it is still the 1940s and then he escapes.  I liked that touch.

The Bad
-Why did Cap jump to the conclusion that his only option was bringing the plane down?  Maybe someone can explain this to me.  If he is able to control it so that it will go into a dive, why not turn it around?  Or try to land it somewhere?  Were the bombs flown by Hydra agents?  If so, once he killed all of them, what harm would it be to turn around and try to land somewhere?  They should have went with the old fashioned nuclear rocket option instead.

-Bucky's death scene was good, but when they bring him back (and they will), it will seem pretty crazy that he somehow survived that fall.

-Hugo Weaving's accent

-Chris Evans need to bulk up more, his chest was not big enough...

Comic Book Movie Grade:  B+/A-
\

finger curls





A Dance With Dragons

As most of you can imagine, I was pretty excited about the release of A Dance With Dragons.  I went to Wal-Mart after work on Monday around midnight hoping it was out.  I was informed by the girl old lady working that they did not have it.  I woke up the next day with a sense of purpose.  I went back to Wal-Mart because I was told that it might come on the truck in the morning.  Unfortunately, it was not there and there were no other bookstores in Ebensburg.  I asked Lindsey if there was a bookstore in Johnstown and she said yes.  I then checked my account and found that I had no money.  How depressing!

Lindsey came home from work and surprised me with a copy.  What an awesome girlfriend!  Although, it was probably a bad move for her since she barely saw me after that, haha.  Alright, fun story, but now for the thoughts on the book.

I have decided not to bore you with a lengthy recap.  Honestly, only a few of you actually read books and of that small group, only a few of those people read this series.  Instead, I have decided to just look at some of my predictions and see how close I am.

Jon's Parents
My prediction was Rhaegar and Lyanna.  Unfortunately, it really does seem like Jon is Eddard's bastard son.  More than one character has made a comment about Eddard's woman (I cannot remember her name).  I still believe that Rhaegar and Lyanna ran away together and were probably in love. 

Arya's Blindness
I was right about that and an earlier prediction was that she would become a great assassin.  She refused to allow them to give her the antidote to cure her blindness and she goes about continuing her training.  At one point she figures out who keeps hitting her with the stick and gives him the three things she learned as he wanted.  She also succeeds in killing the insurance agent.  It made me laugh as they explain to Arya what the man does for a living and she is completely astounded that people would waste money on gambling whether there ship makes it or not.

Dorne
Quentyn Martell makes his way to Daenerys and shows her the letter that was an agreement to wed Viserys and the princess of Dorne.  Viserys was to return to Dorne with an army and they would join forces to retake the Iron Throne.  Unfortunately for Quentyn, he is a little late, as Daenerys is about to marry a guy from Meereen.  In his desperation to prove that he is not a loser, he breaks into the pyramid holding the two chained dragons and wants to steal one.  He figures he has a little Targaryen blood in him, he will be fine.  HAHAHA, how does being burnt alive feel Quentyn?  Yeah, he died pretty horrifically. 

Daenerys
I predicted that she would raise an army and come to Westeros.  Well Meereen has been a slight detour.  She has an army and a bunch of enemies, but instead of being a conqueror, she has become a true ruler.  She worries about how to feed her people and keeping them from slavery.  After her wedding, she is almost assassinated by her own husband.

Fortunately, she is saved when Drogon comes to the fighting pit and starts killing people.  She is able to control her dragon and hops on his back and flies away.  They are out hunting together when they come on the khalasar of Khal Jhaqo.  Ser Barristan Selmy has led a coup against Meereen's new king (Daenerys husband, who Barristan believes tried to kill her), but unfortunately, the armies assembled outside have decided on war.

New Predictions
-I still believe that Daenerys will eventually return to Westeros and conquer it or at least become Queen.  I think with Drogon, she will cause Khal Jhaqo to join his khalasar to hers.  I believe that from the first book, when two khalasars met up, they would battle and then the survivors would form into a new one and the leader would be the new khal.  With her new khalasar, she will return to Meereen and defeat the armies outside her walls.

-The new dragon, and I am guessing the real heir to the Iron Throne, Aegon, will not survive.  He will cause a ton of problems and probably give Westeros a real scare, but in the end, he will be defeated by someone.  OR, he will ride one of the other dragons.  As will Victarion, with his horn, but he will turn against his brother and join Daenerys cause as well.  I doubt that last one though.

-Tyrion will reclaim Casterly Rock and become the other force that everyone worries about.  Actually to piss off his sister, he will lend his support to Aegon and eventually Daenerys. 

-What will happen with Jaime?  He is now in the hands of the resurrected Catelyn Stark (Lady Stoneheart).  I loved how he handled the situation with the Bracken's and Blackwoods.  If you combined all three Lannister children, that would make a great king (or queen).  Anyways, I am guessing that Brianne promised to deliver him to Stoneheart in exchange for her life. 

-Jon Snow will not be dead.  He is wounded and will probably be saved by someone.  I have a feeling he will still lead his wildling friends against Ramsay.  Hopefully Jon will kill Ramsay and become the new Lord of Winterfell.  Although, he is still a bastard and if Stannis is dead, he has no shot of being naturalized.

-In fact, is King Stannis really dead?  I just hate Ramsay.  I never liked Theon, but after reading about his horrible captivity, I really want him to go back to the Iron Islands and either claim his right as the king, or just ask his uncle to kill Ramsay.

-I also still believe that the Others will make their way over the Wall or at least make a very good attempt.  The Night's Watch will regret losing Snow, but they will be saved by an unexpected source:  Bran and his friends, the Children of the Forest.

-Speaking of Ned's children:  Rickon will be the new Lord of Winterfell.  Davos will find the boy and help him regain his position. 

I am sure I will think of other things, but since I will have a few years between now and then, I will definitely write more about this series.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Phil the Devil



Meet 

the 

Devil:



(Bradley Cooper's ladies man character Phil Wenneck from 2009's The Hangover.)




Phil/Bradley Cooper will play Lucifer in the upcoming movie, Paradise Lost, based on John Milton's epic poem of the same title:


Talk  about bad casting!

 Of all of Hollywood's wonderful actors, so-so Cooper is cast to take on the role of Lucifer?

His good looks seemingly don't even fit into the picture as he supposedly looks  a la:

(Concept art of Bradley Cooper as Lucifer in the upcoming movie Paradise Lost.)



It's mind-boggling why a seasoned, legendary actor wasn't cast for Lucifer--- especially since Milton's poem is so classic.


I wish any of these old pros were playing Milton's devil:





Al Pacino would be my top pick. 

He already mastered playing the Devil in 1997's The Devil's Advocate (ironically his devil's name was: John Milton).



Anthony Hopkins would be wonderful as the Devil. 

He didn't officially play the Devil in any roles but he played a devil: the infamous cannibal Hannibal Lecter in 1991's Silence of the Lambs.




Jack Nicholson would make another great Lucifer without a doubt. 

He too as Pacino, played the so well Devil already: in 1987's The Witches of Eastwick.




 Roberto De Niro would have made a very good Lucifer too. 

He played the Devil in 1987's Angel Heart.





Christopher Walken would have been another great choice for Lucifer.

He knows how to play bad, as he played one Lucifer's bad angels in 1995's The Prophecy.



A younger actor than those above, but more experienced (and even better looking) than Cooper, could be his perfect replacement:




Brad Pitt played "Death" in 1998's Meet Joe Black, not the Devil but close enough.


I just cannot see nor do I want to see, hangover loving Phil Wenneck/Bradley Cooper playing Lucifer.


Is there time for a recast?!?





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