Star Trek Into Darkness

  I picked up Star Trek Into Darkness when it came out, and I finally had a chance to watch it. It took a lot for me to avoid any spoilers from the point if was released into theaters. This was probably one of the most successful times I've had of avoiding any spoilers about a movie. I have to say, it was pretty hard to try not to look anything up about the flick during this time, and I even avoided looking at the back of the Blu-Ray. Yeah, that's some devotion. So my first viewing of Star Trek Into Darkness really was a completely untainted, and spoil free experience.

  Now that I'm done beating the dead horse about how I was able to avoid spoilers here's a brief description of the movie from IMDB.com: When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew. 

  Star Trek Into Darkness was an action packed ride of Sci-Fi and Awesome! I really enjoyed it, if you couldn't tell. J. J. Abrams' alternate time universe really has come to be something that makes me want more. He really does keep the Star Trek fans happy, while appealing to audiences Star Trek has never had before.

  At this point in the game, I'm not going to worry too much about having spoilers in my review. Anyone who's familiar with Star Trek the Original Series, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn could see the references to these throughout the film. The best one in my opinion was the scene where Jim Kirk died, which references the iconic scene in the original movie where Spock was the one who originally died in the main timeline. In my opinion both scenes where the hardest scenes to watch in Star Trek history. Another little reference that I got a kick out of was having the Tribble in the lab that Dr. Mcoy was experimenting Kahn's blood with. This of course references the Trouble with Tribbles episode in the original series.

  Another cool little added bonus was when we got to see the Klingons. I really liked the helmets that they wore, but the actual klingons ended up reminding me of the alien from Enemy Mine, Jeriba "Jerry" Shigan, played by Louis Gossett Jr.

  Overall, I give Star Trek Into Darkness a 5 out of 5. I really enjoyed it, and I was giddy the entire time I watched it with all the references. The story itself kept you sucked into the movie. It's definitely work checking out, especially if you're a Star Trek fan.

Oblivion Review

  I had a chance to finally see Oblivion. Actually it was John's post that gave me the push to see it now that it's on Blu-Ray. It was quite a convincing post, considering how he looks at it.

  Here is a brief synopsis of Oblivion from IMDB.com: One of the few remaining drone repairmen assigned to Earth, its surface devastated after decades of war with the alien Scavs, discovers a crashed spacecraft with contents that bring into question everything he believed about the war, and may even put the fate of mankind in his hands.

  Oblivion is a Sci-fi/Action flick which takes you for a mental ride. The movie pulls you along, and hits you with something new as you get deeper into the rabbit hole. Honestly I believe the reason why I enjoyed Oblivion as much as I did was because it made you think. I would describe it as this years version of 2001 A Space Odyssey. At leas at the moment that's the closest film I could compare it to, but that still isn't a good comparison.

  Overall I give Oblivion a 4 out of 5. I enjoyed the ride every moment of the movie, but I still felt like some things were spoon fed to me that didn't really need to be. It's a good flick and worth at least one view.

Oblivion: new birth to a dying Genre

When it comes to Genre films it's hard to do something that tastes like something new! Now almost 100 years into film what can you put on screen no one has seen before? 

 

That's a question most of us have been asking in the last 7-10 years with all the remakes reboots and Sequels. A film that is totally original with no Scenes borrowed or stole from films before it! 

 

Then comes Oblivion, with Tom Cruse, which had it came 10 years ago it probably broken box office records and been calls a masterpiece but in a film world in which we have seen so much, it's a film that is left in the dark! 

  

I'm here to shine a light on this masterful film! I'll be spoiler free and give no plot points away! I'm going to Solely blow this movies "dick"! This film is a action scifi film with limited action and scifi, it's that rare case in which huge action and tons of aliens are not needed to show what happens when earth is invaded! 

  It is all show by showing the outcome of true Nuclear war on earth and why the moon is so important! it's all threw the point of view of one man, and Tom cruse has never been better, easily his best acting job. That's all I can say it's his best performance.

 Now that it's out I highly recommend it rent it buy it do something because if you don't or haven't seen Oblivion...your gay!  

World War Z Movie Review

  World War Z was based on the book World War Z by Max Brooks. When I first heard about a movie being made based on Max Brooks book World War Z, I couldn't have been more excited about zombie movie news. After some time passed I kept hearing about issues with them finding and keeping a director and I had started to worry about them actually getting the movie done. Once they were finally able to get all that sorted out they released a trailer for the film. I went from being excited to suddenly feeling like someone had screwed it up. Here is the trailer to the film so you have an idea as to what I'm about to refer to.


 
  Now that you've had a chance to see the trailer I'm going to talk a little about what worried me. If you read the book you'll notice that it's not following the book 100%. The book is a compilation of interviews with people after the actual epidemic. The movie takes place during it. I understood why they approached it that way for the idea of following one story instead of multiple stories. If the followed the book 100% it would have been setup like a documentary instead. The next and the biggest issue I had when I saw the trailer was that the zombies ran. I follow the George A. Romero thought process as to how zombies should walk. On top of that in the book World War Z, the zombies didn't run, they walked, and/or shambled, and staggered. So as you can see I was worried they were going to ruin something I genuinely enjoyed reading.

  Here is a little synopsis of World War Z  from IMDB.com before I give my review:  United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

  Now that I was finally able to see World War Z in theaters I can finally give my opinion of the movie as a whole. The actual story wasn't bad, it keep you engaged and at the edge of your seat. It also wasn't a bad approach to stick with one story line to follow that happened during the actual event as opposed to the book. At least I understand why it was approached that way. Ignoring the idea of the running zombie, the CG of the zombie hordes wasn't the worst I've seen, and they used it sparingly which helped to suspend your disbelief of it all. The actual "jump" moments were done pretty well also, I don't usually jump from one of the cheap scare but I did it a couple times in World War Z. Overall I have to give World War Z a 4
out of 5, I actually enjoyed watching it from beginning to the end, and I'll definitely be picking it up on blu-ray when it comes out.

My new loves

The Shadow (1994) Review

  This past weekend I had a chance to watch any random movie. It was brought to my attention that my wife to be had not seen The Shadow starring Alec Baldwin. So after finding this out it was necessary for us to watch it as soon as possible.

  The Shadow (1994) is based in 1930's New York City. It's about Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin) also known as The Shadow who is pitted against his arch nemesis Shiwan Khan (Jone Lone). Shiwan wants to take over the world, so he has an atomic bomb built to hold the city as ransom. The Shadow has the power to cloud the minds of men, which allows him to become invisible accept for his shadow.

  This is one of those fun 90's movies based on old pulp-fiction and radio drama series. This might be coming from nostalgia but The Shadow was one of my favorite characters Alec Baldwin has played. When I was a kid I used to beg my dad to rent it over and over again when it came out on video.

  The Shadow is pretty much a typical 90's comic book type movie. It's fun but you still run into some campy lines that seemed epic back then. Overall you have to go into watching The Shadow thinking you want to have fun with it. The closest to the modern day equivalent would probably be The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen, if The Green Hornet took itself more seriously. I'm sure my score comes from nostalgia, but I give it a 4 out of 5.

Game of Thrones Seasons 1-3 (My Thoughts)

  This isn't really a review of Game of Thrones, it's more of a reflection, and maybe even a little warning to anyone who hasn't watched it yet. I recently finished watching the first three seasons of Game of Thrones. That is a show that I can't help but love and hate at the same time. It's actually caused me to start reading the books. It's one of those shows where you eventually become afraid to start rooting for any characters because you're afraid of what's going to happen to them in the next season.

  I've read a few reviews on Game of Thrones, and most people love it the same way I do, but there are those out there who seem to hate it with a passion. Those people I can't blame for not liking it, especially if their reasons are what I was talking about above, with the fear of what might happen to your favorite characters. It's a pretty rough show to watch, especially as you go through each season.

  When I first heard about Game of Thrones, I was warned ahead of time about how the books, and show are, so it was easier for me to get into the show. The show and books aren't for anyone who's into more traditional story telling. In my opinion I think it's worth checking out.