San Diego Comic-Con 2014 – My Highlights

Good day to you ladies and gents, well the annual San Diego Comic Convention is totally in full swing and news, images and videos have been released all over the internet and it has sent fans into a frenzy so far. So far from what I’ve seen and read it has been a pretty amazing session so far and I wish I could attend, but alas I am too poor lol. So just like last year I’m gonna do a news round-up of all the updates from Comic-Con that have caught my eye. So hold on tight as I have a lot to get through, let’s rocket! XD

Wonder Woman’s Costume Revealed

For me one of the biggest things to come out of Comic-Con was the reveal of Wonder Woman’s costume and I have to say that I like it. Gal Gadot looks fine in it and the costume is clearly more practical and let’s revealing than the comic book versions of the past. Though it wasn’t until I saw a meme online where someone pointed out that the BvS Wonder Woman costume is pretty much the same as Xena from the old Xena: Warrior Princess TV show, really after you do a quick comparison is kind of hard to ignore. Whether or not the costume designers were aware of this or not remains to be seen, either way it is pretty interesting to note.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Footage

Obviously what could be described as the biggest announcement from Comic-Con this year would be the reveal of the short footage from the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which features an armoured Batman in the rain setting up the Bat signal and Superman hovers in the sky looking down with glowing eyes like they’re ready to duke it out. Now thanks to the power of the internet I saw some blurry leaked footage and from what i could tell it looked pretty awesome, Batman looked badass and the way Gotham City has been crafted visually is so good and the way these two titans are just staring at each other you know that shit is gonna go down. Everybody has been freaking out about this footage and while I think it was cool, it was by no means anything earth-shattering.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Massive Picture, Footage & Info

Not to be outdone by DC completely Marvel assembled nearly all of their cast for the Avengers: Age of Ultron panel where they were all introduced in style to Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Enough” and we learnt a few more details about some of the characters here and there. In addition to that we got a beautiful concept art poster of all the Avengers assembled battling the Ultron army [pictured above} which looks totally badass and is my new wallpaper haha. And then there’s the footage (which at this point has yet to be leaked online), which apparently has the Avengers chilling out with each of them trying to pick up Thor’s hammer and failed, only Captain America has the power to budge it a little. And Ultron apparently comes a long and messes things up and then there’s a montage of all sorts of things (man I hope that trailer gets leaked.

Check out the panel here:

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 & Animated Series Announced

So Guardians of the Galaxy is just under a week away and so far it has been getting early positive reviews which is awesome and now it has been announced that there is not only gonna be a sequel to Marvel’s sci-fi adventure but there will also be an animated series too. When it comes to Guardians 2 I say bring it on, if the first film is as good as I am hoping then I would love to see more from that universe. As for the animated series, I’m not sure, Marvel have had a dodgy track record with animated shows after Spectacular Spider-Man, Avengers: EMH and Wolverine and the X-Men ended and if it looks anything like the Avengers Assemble cartoon that that won’t be good thing for me, that art design is a bit too stylized and funky, but I’ll wait until the trailer comes out before I start to complain.

Legendary Pictures Announce Godzilla 2 With More Classic Monsters & King Kong Reboot Entitled ‘Skull Island’

Now there were some surprising things to read on Saturday from Legendary Pictures’ announcements. No not that Godzilla was getting a sequel, but that there was going to be the return of classic monsters in the future like Mothra, Rodan and Ghidorah. When I read that I was like “YES!” (In a high-pitched voice). I don’t car what anyone says, Godzilla (2014) was killer and worked where it needed to most, the monster fights, and if the filmmakers are gonna bring in my classic monster for some fighting action I say bring the hell on! Then there was the news that King Kong was gonna get rebooted and focus on the place of his origin, Skull Island. It does feel a bit soon to reboot the big ape considering that the Peter Jackson version was only 9 years ago, but hey reboots are the ‘in-thing’ so why not do it? Now the reason I’m down for this is because since both Godzilla and King Kong are under the same studio roof, maybe there will be the chance for another King Kong Vs. Godzilla film? Wishful thinking I know but one can hope. 😛

So this concludes the first part of my news, all in all it’s been a pretty good session though not nearly as exciting or unexpected as last year I have to say. Anyway which of these stories stood out the most to you and is there anything on here that I didn’t mention that you think was worth talking about? Whatever it is be sure to comment below and I’ll ya around on the next blog post yo! 🙂

 

Begin Again Review

Howdy people of the internet, today I return with my review for the film Begin Again. Now I had no intention of watching this film until my auntie told me that she really liked it, so I decided to give it a chance and saw it on Thursday. So what did I think of it? Well read on and find out!

When it comes to the story it goes like this:

“Gretta and her long-time boyfriend Dave are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who decamp for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn for the better when Dan, a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges an enchanting portrait of a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City.”

The story on display here is a very good one that is delightful, heartfelt and engaging throughout. While the film is primarily about people and their relationships with music it is more than just that. It feels like a film that is celebrating music in general, like its emotional powers, the in which it connects us and the way it can change the mood or atmosphere of any place depending on what music is being played. You can tell that the filmmakers are fans of music as there is a great sense of fun and playfulness, but also a level of realism and insight into the ups and downs of making it in the industry as a successful musician. Also thankfully I love how the film didn’t fall into the trap of having a generic love story approach with the main characters too.

As for the cast they were all really good and were a joy to watch. Let’s start with Keira Knightley as Gretta. Normally I can’t stand Knightley, it is something about her face that just puts me off and in general the roles she plays are never that engaging or fun, but in this film she was actually tolerable. This is the first film I can actually stand her character in because her character, Gretta is just a normal human being who has dreams and aspirations but is also fragile and has experienced heartbreak. She’s headstrong, smart and surprisingly cool. And then there’s Mark Ruffalo who is in top form as Dan Mulligan. This is a man who has vision, he knows music and has had massive success in the past, however he isn’t in tune with what is going on in the music business today, he’s a bit of drunk and has issues with his ex-wife and distant daughter. He does come across as a bit pretentious but he is also very passionate and likes to take chances on things that he thinks will work. Together Knightley and Ruffalo have amazing chemistry together, they seem totally natural and fun together like they’ve been friends for ages and it makes for some very special and lovely moments on-screen.

Adam Levine as Dave Kohl, Gretta’s ex-boyfriend is also pretty good, to a degree I almost didn’t recognize him throughout the film because he didn’t seem like his ‘Maroon 5 front man’ kind of self, but I guess that’s a good thing. His acting was serviceable and as usual his singing is impeccable and it was only at those moments when I remembered him as the main guy from Maroon 5. James Corden as  was surprisingly nice and tolerable Steve, Gretta’s best friend. Now I don’t hate Corden but sometimes I do find him to be a bit insufferable, however here he was actually fun and did get me smiling on occasion because of his character’s dialogue. Hailee Steinfeld does well as Dan’s daughter, Violet Mulligan and the appearance from CeeLo Green as Trouble Gum was totally cool as he was just cool, quirky and hilarious as he seems in real life. And lastly both Mos Def as Saul and Catherine Keener as Miriam brought a lot of interesting elements to this film as their respective characters.

And then there’s the soundtrack which features a collection of established music and original material by Gregg Alexander and holy man, it is amazing. Not since Inside Llewyn Davis have I been this engaged with the audio side of a film. Genre-wise while this film contains various types of songs from Stevie Wonder to Frank Sinatra, the original pieces of music are more a little more radio friendly. I’m not too good with identifying certain genres of music but a lot of this material had a pop/funk/folk kind of feel as separate and crossed over songs and it is the way in which it is executed, it sounds so good. Now while the music that style of music that Gretta does is not really my kind of jam normally, here in this film I really liked it and at several points during the film I kept saying to myself, “I’m gonna have to get the soundtrack for this film.” Honestly, it is that good.

In conclusion Begin Again is a smart, realistic and heartfelt film that I had a better time with than I ever could have imagined. This is just a feel-good film with some really good acting, absolutely amazing music and beautiful sense of pride. I would recommend it purely based on how fun it is, even if you’re a bit sceptical, give it a try.

Rating: 8.5/10

So have you seen Begin Again and if so what did you think of it? Be sure to leave your comments below and I’ll see ya on the next film review. Laters! 😀

 

The Two Faces of January Review

Howdy ladies and gents, once again I resurface from the underworld to give you a new film review and today I’ll be talking about The Two Faces of January. Now I remember hearing about this film ages ago and really wanted to see it just because Viggo Mortensen was in it. Unfortunately I missed the film upon its initial release and reviews were so-so to negative, but I still wanted to check this film out. Luckily Cineworld put up a repeat viewing this week which allowed me to see the film myself. So how does the film fare? Well read on and find out!

As for the story it goes a little something like this:

“In 1962, the charismatic Chester MacFarland and his alluring younger wife Colette, arrive in Athens by boat via the Corinthian Canal. While sightseeing at the Acropolis they encounter Rydal, a young, Greek-speaking American who is working as a tour guide, scamming tourists on the side. Drawn to Colette’s beauty and impressed by Chester’s wealth and sophistication, Rydal gladly accepts their invitation to dinner. However, all is not as it seems with the MacFarlands, and Chester’s affable exterior hides darker secrets.“

I thought the film had an interesting if somewhat familiar story, the problem was in the execution. If you had just read the premise for the film then it would sound pretty interesting right? and this film does a few things right when it comes to the elements of jealous and deceit and the ever-growing presence of madness as things start to spiral out of control. All that being said, the film was a bit slow and wasted time on small scenes that didn’t need to be there and while the run time for a thriller is probably around this mark, if not longer I do feel like some scenes could have been cut. Towards things start to pick up and get to a point I expected a while beforehand but even after that it feels a little too late.

When it comes to the cast they are pretty good for the most part. So let’s start with Viggo Mortensen as Chester MacFarland. Even when the overall product isn’t all that you had hoped for you can still count on this man to give a good performance and did very well here. Mortensen’s character appears was very suave, cool and sure of himself, at least when things are going his way, but then when his jealously and paranoia get the better of him you can see his true colours as a bit of rude, drunk, corrupt and dangerous individual who is always looking out for number one. Oscar Isaac as Rydal, Issac was also very good, his character while he isn’t a saint, does have morals and is for the most part a good man who wishes to do right by people. But when things get messy Rydal does step up and can be a fairly calculated and aggressive individual and because of his role in this film I feel like he could take on a villain role in the future. And then there’s Kirsten Dunst as Colette MacFarland. Now Kirsten tries her hardest but she just isn’t that engaging as her two other co-stars and her character felt like she was around for the men to fight over.

One thing that I can say that I liked was the soundtrack by Alberto Iglesias. I loved the his score, it was beautiful. It had a good sense of presence, pacing and knew how to create the right mood for each situation especially the moments of action and tension.

in conclusion The Two Faces of January is isn’t bad, but isn’t great either. I really wanted to love this film but the plot feels like it moves a lot slower than it should be and after the film ended I didn’t feel a great deal of satisfaction once it was over. Mortensen and Issac are the saving graces for this film otherwise it would have been a total bore.

Rating: 6/10

So have you seen The Two Faces of January and if so what did you think of it? Be sure to leave your comments below and I’ll see ya on the next film review. Laters! 😀

 

The Sinister Six To Be Released In 2016 & Amazing Spider-Man 3 Pushed Back To 2018

Howdy ladies and gentlemen, time for some film news and this has to do with the future of Sony’s Spider-Man films and the shared universe that they are trying to create. The following information comes from ComicBookMovie:

“Given that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the lowest-grossing Spidey movie ever and, quite frankly, a critical flop, there has been much uncertainty about where Sony Pictures will take the franchise and its previously-announced villain spin-off movies. Now ahead of this week’s San Diego Comi-Con, The Hollywood Reporter reports that the studio has scheduled to first release The Sinister Six on November 11, 2016,  and will eventually release The Amazing Spider-Man 3 in 2018. The third and fourth sequels to Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man were initially set for release on June 10, 2016, and May 4, 2018, but Sony is apparently happy with The Sinisher Six writer/director Drew Goddard’s rough script and ultimately what he has planned for the supervillain team-up movie, which The Amazing Spider-Man 2 notably spent precious screen-time trying to establish.

“With Sinister Six in the hands of writer-director Drew Goddard, we feel extremely confident placing the film on a prime date in 2016,” said Sony president Doug Belgrad in a statement.”

Firstly let’s talk about the main point of interest here; the fact that Amazing Spider-Man 3 has been pushed back to 2018. Ha! I’m sorry but I can’t help but snigger a little bit at this. The Amazing Spider-Man 2, despite there being some elements that I liked, overall it was just a mess of a film. TASM2 it is the lowest money-making Spidey film and one of the worst critically received films in the series too and besides a few die-hard fanboys, most comic book film fans despise the film. So now the film has been delayed in favour of the Sinister Six villain film. Now while I can understand the logic on Sony’s end to go ahead with the villain-based film that includes some of the already established characters in TASM2, but at the same time that leaves a massive gap between now and the next Spider-Man film.

Four years! Four bloody years, that is a bloody long time when it comes to distance between sequels. The standard gap is at least two, three years tops. The Four year gap did not do Star Trek Into Darkness any favours as it really killed the momentum created by its prequel back in 2009. I know that the difference here is that we will be getting a villain film in-between to hold us over that takes place in the same universe, but unless Spider-Man is somehow involved then the gap between films will still feel pretty long. As for The Sinister Six, while I’m interested as to how it will turn out, however without the right care and attention I don’t think it will be a good experience, and considering the way Sony and the writers behind TASM2 have treated Spidey so far, I’m not expecting anything amazing the way that the Goblin, Rhino and Electro was handled. I hope that the vision and creativity behind this villain film is better than what has come in the past.

 

Those Super Lazy Summer Days…

Sup ladies and gents, today I come to you with a blog post out of boredom, again. It is the latter part of July, it is summer, it’s hot and I’m really, really, REALLY bored.

I’ve made blog posts about being bored and lazy before but today, once again I feel like the past is repeating itself and today especially I am feeling SUPER lazy. The recent hot days in the UK, while good for people who are doing things outside, for me it is just heats up my house makes me feel hot and tired. Ever since I moved into my current house around 10 years ago the summer has been the season for me to laze around the house and do nothing because of the heat sucking away my energy.

Today has been what feels like the longest day of my life. The heat has pretty much sucked out all of my energy and any inspiration I have for personal work is just not there any more. So what do I do in a moment of crisis like this? Watch stupid amounts of TV, play video games and lay on the couch watching for the hours to pass by. Luckily it gets pretty cool around this hour of the day so my movements get a little quicker again. Man I really need something to do haha, hopefully I can get a job over the summer or get a really good video game to hold me over during these super hot days. Thanks for reading lol. 😛

 

Pharrell – G I R L Review

Good day to you ladies and gents, time for an album review that I was meant to have done around 3 months ago, I am of course talking about G I R L by Pharrell Williams. Now I feel like this album came out of nowhere as I never knew it was coming out until around a month before it’s release and I got really excited to see what the man would come up with as I have been waiting for some new material from him for ages especially after the songs he did for Despicable Me 1 & 2. So how does G I R L fare? Well read on and find out.

G I R L is Pharrell’s second solo album, his first, In My Mind was released in 2006 to very mixed reviews though it did spawn some decent singles and I love some of the unreleased tracks from that album. Since Pharrell’s last N*E*R*D album in 2010 he hasn’t made any new material besides artist collaborations and small singles contributing to film soundtracks. And after Pharrell’s success in 2013 with Daft Punk and Robin Thicke, it seemed a bit bizarre that Pharrell wasn’t busting out material of his own, but then in March of 2014 Pharrell released a new album which for the most part was pretty well received by critics and fans.

I listened to the album stream on iTunes and then about 3 or 4 more times after I got the album between April and June, so I really got a feel for the album and to be honest it good, but not this super amazing album some have made it out to be. Now don’t misunderstand me, I do have a lot of love for some of the tracks on this album as Pharrell has clearly adopted a few things from his collaboration with Daft Punk and others which has helped craft this album, however upon initial release some people said that this was Pharrell’s best work ever or just miles better than his last solo effort and honestly I don’t see what these people are going on about. While G I R L is more cohesive album that his last solo effort, some of the tracks don’t sound much different from the material that Pharrell has done in the past when it comes to hip-hop and R&B. I do appreciate this album’s sense of style as it does have a few jams that are good for chilling and/or dancing and it has an eclectic form of music genres including R&B, disco, funk, pop and hip-hop kind of feel due to the music production behind it.

Now let’s talk about the tracks:

“Marilyn Monroe” is the opening track on the album and it is very nice, cute and is a great way to get into the groove of this album and I do like the lyrical content. “Brand New” was my first favourite song from the album as it has such a feel-good sound and seems like the kind of song you’d listen to while on holiday. The combination of Pharrell and Justin Timberlake is fabulous and I really wish this song would be released as a single already. “Hunter” was the first track I heard from this album (besides “Happy” obviously) and I really like it, it seemed like it has a very disco/funk feel about it and after someone noted the similarity to Diana Ross’ “Upside Down” it is impossible to be unheard. This song just sounds like a cool jam, nuff said.

Now let’s talk about “Gush“, I love this song, sure it’s primarily about sex, however it has a gorgeous sound you can jam to and the music along with the chorus make this a fairly addictive song. Now some have complained about the sexual nature of the lyrics, but to be honest it isn’t that bad. It is mostly implied sexual acts than full-on words like “I’ll fuck your” or something like that, to me this is no different to Pharrell’s previous solo work or N*E*R*D* material. “Happy” is the song that some will know from Despicable Me 2, but most will know as the single that was released at the latter part of 2013 that would never stop playing because it was everywhere. To put it simply the song is nice and catchy but kind of annoying after being played repeatedly for an extended time period. “Come Get It Bae” is the song I feared because of Miley Cyrus’ involvement, however the song ended up be a nice surprised as she and Pharrell together have come up with a  quite fun and playful kind of song.

And then there’s “Gust of Wind” which features Daft Punk. This was a song I was really hyped for before listening and while it is one of my favourites for sure due to the music and lyrics, the use of Daft Punk’s talents were really wasted just doing the voice stuff for the chorus and that’s it, that was disappointing. “Lost Queen” is pretty much the weakest of the tracks as it doesn’t have the same kind of charm or fun as the previous songs, it’s just a bit slow and boring. That being said the hidden track “Freq” is pretty decent. “Know Who You Are” which features Alicia Keys is a nice track which has a beautiful sound and wonderful vocals. And finally we have “It Girl“, the album closer which is just kind of there. It’s a nice track with a cool instrumental sound which, but that’s the only thing it has going for it.

My favourite tracks:

• Marilyn Monroe
• Brand New
• Hunter
• Gush
• Happy
• Come Get It Bae
• Gust of Wind
• Know Who You Are

So in conclusion G I R L by Pharrell is good album, but not a great one. I believe that there is a lot to love about some of this songs, however I don’t believe this album has a lot of staying power and I can easily say that I still love some of Pharrell’s older work more. I would still recommend this album if you’re a fan of Pharrell in any capacity.

Rating: 7.5/10 (A feel-good and funky collection of songs that make for a fun listening experience)

So what did you think of G I R L? Did it meet your expectations or were you disappointed? Also I’d love to know if you’re a long-time Pharrell fan or a newer one and tell me in your opinion ow this album fared. Whatever your thoughts are be sure to leave them in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review yo.

 

Arrow Season 2 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen, time for another TV review and today I’ll continue my thoughts Arrow with my review of season two! Now I really liked season 1 and did not expect to take to it was well and I immediately jumped on the next season to see what was going on because the finale of season really makes you wanna see what happens next. So how does season two fare? Well read on and find out! Partial spoilers to follow.

The story can described as the following:

“After being marooned for five years on a remote island, billionaire Oliver Queen returns home with a mysterious agenda and a lethal set of new skills that he uses in a war on crime in this hard-hitting action series. After suffering unimaginable ordeals on the island, the Oliver returns to Starling City a new man — determined to right the wrongs of his father and sworn to bring justice to those who’ve corrupted his city. But Oliver finds his crusade complicated by his friends and family who are all affected by his return.”

After the way season one ended with The Glades being blown up, his mother being arrested and his best friend dying, its no wonder why Oliver’s changed emotionally and his habits as the vigilante known as ‘The Arrow’. There are a great deal of revelations that take place in this season straight from the beginning right through to the end, stories and characters old and new coming into play in interesting ways which leave you continuously wanting more. Like last season, trust a major theme that is highlighted throughout and it is one oft he key things that bind and break apart some of the main characters, still after all this time there is a lot of lies and deceit with some hiding their secrets with the best intentions only for it to backfire in their faces (I’m looking at you Moria and Oliver). What also surprised me was the extra levels of depth the writers added to Oliver’s flashback scenes on the island, my god he went through so much stuff that I never could have imagined back when he first mentioned the place in season 1. Now one thing i never mentioned in my last review was while I like the flashback scenes, I did feel like some of them came and went a bit abruptly and sometimes felt like more of an interruption than a point of interest and the same rule applies here for me. I’m not saying that they were bad at all, just that sometimes they were a bit erratic in their timing.

Somehow the writers behind this show find a way to make the impossible possible and create all of these deep, intriguing and unexpected storylines that are even more captivating, dangerous and dramatic than before. This show just throws insane situations at Team Arrow and see how they come across and then overcome these situations is nothing short of amazing especially towards the ending when Deathstroke is assembling his army, the The Glades is once again in danger with it almost getting blown up A.R.G.U.S. and Team Arrow having to team up with able. Slade makes his move and kidnaps Laurel and Felicity. Meanwhile Oliver, Sara and Roy team up with Nyssa al Ghul and the League of Assassins to stop dispatch Mirakuru cure.

Episode highlights:

• City of Heroes
• Identity
• Broken Dolls
• Crucible
• The League of Assassins
• Keep Your Enemies Closer
• Three Ghosts
• Blast Raidus
• Blind Spot
• Tremors
• Heir to the Demon
• Time of Death
• The Promise
• The Man Under the Hood
• Seeing Red
• City of Blood
• Streets of Fire
• Unthinkable

As for the cast they are all pretty good and there’s not really anyone that does a bad job. One minor nitpick I have with these characters is the relationships; since many of these characters (Oliver and many other women) end up in with different people at varying points of the series, whether it be with people of the past or present, the problem is that it is hard to believe that their feelings are genuine or solely based on one person when just a little while ago they were with someone else. Outside of that I have no quarrel with the characters in this show.

Once again Stephen Amell is killing it as Oliver Queen/The Arrow. This time round Oliver has to change things up, become less of an assassin and more of hero, he also has to take better care of his family while also deal with demons from his past which come back to haunt him and take on tasks in and out of the suit which tests him as far as humanly possible. Amell is a great actor and he very convincingly acts out all of these situations which can either be fun, melancholy or dangerous. David Ramsey is once again really cool as John Diggle, he got a lot more character development and there was a lot more time dedicated to his backstory. Emily Bett Rickards also stepped up as Felicity Smoak, while she was pretty much the same kind of person as she was before, Felicity definitely has her moments in the spotlight helping out which specific missions and having intimate moments with both Oliver and Barry West. But the standout person this season was Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke. I had waited for Slade’s transformation to the dark side for so long because my mate had hyped it up for so long and luckily it was beautiful. Slade was instantly likeable from last season because of his smug, yet confident and cool demeanor, in this season we see how his character goes from being Oliver’s closest friend to his most hated enemy and with the addition of the drug that makes him pretty much a super soldier he becomes a threat that is always fun and engaging to watch. Even though the man is evil and does many terrible things at the same time he a tortured soul haunted by his past that constantly messes with his head and fuels his revenge which is orchestrated in such thorough and methodical manner.

Caity Lotz becomes one to watch she does a wonderful job as Sara Lance/The Canary. Firstly can I just say that she is one of the hottest woman ever in that Canary outfit, she is just insanely hot. *Ahem* Moving on. I was glad to see that Sarah not only had an expanded role not only in the present along with Team Arrow, but also in the past as we discovered how she survived and was part of the puzzle involving Oliver and Slade. Lotz does well as this hardened, yet soft warrior who is always looking out for her family but tries to stay away from them due to her past. Paul Blackthorne is once again very good in the role of Quentin Lance. Quentin has a fairly substantial role in this season as he goes through hell at his job at the police, has to deal with family issues and chase after The Arrow. This time round we get to see a nice, more understanding and emotional side of Quentin and I really liked the this guy during this season, he was great moral support for both of his daughters. Katie Cassidy returns as Laurel Lance and does a good job, it was great to see her go through such a terrible time with the alcoholism and sibling problems with Sarah. While it did make Laurel a little less likeable, it did give Cassidy some good material to work with. A very good performance came from Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen who is a higher figure during this season, she was even more dangerous than before with even more secrets and lies and bridges with her family are put in jeopardy. Willa Holland as Thea Queen was still hot as hell and acted her scenes out very well.

Colton Haynes was great as Roy Harper who also got an expanded role in this season as well as he continued his relationship with Thea but also have to go through all the ups and downs with his secret life with The Arrow and gaining super strength. As for Summer Glau as Isabel Rochev, I LOVED her. Now I am a bit biased towards Glau because of her work on Firefly and Serenity, but she was really good in this show as her character was cold, calculated and yet very intriguing… And pretty damn hot too (again I’m biased). Also I thought that she was just an uptight bitch with a tiny bit of a nice side, however the fact that it was just a cover for her true intentions of taking over Oliver’s company and her collaboration with Slade was an interesting twist and then seeing her going in combat and kicking ass was just badass too. Kevin Alejandro is pretty good as Sebastian Blood/Brother Blood. He is an interesting character, he is again one of those bad guys who for all his evil motives actually has a questionable history and a bad childhood that fuels his ambitions. The return of Celina Jade as Shado was pretty nice and Bex Taylor-Klaus continued to be very cool and funny as Sin.

The return of John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn/Dark Archer was very much appreciated as he was one of my favourite characters from last season and seeing him return and finding out about his connection to the Queen family (especially Thea) was nothing short of crazy cool. Also Grant Gustin as Barry Allen was a pretty funny, charismatic and interesting character who I liked a lot. And finally there was some great moments in time from Colin Salmon as Walter Steele, Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Amanda Waller, Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels, Michael Rowe as Floyd Lawton/Deadshot and Michael Jai White as Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger.

The presentation once again is very nice. Visually the show is very nice again delivering some nice cinematography, good pacing and great action sequences with lovely fight choreography which is much fancier than it was before (especially when Arrow, Canary or Deathstroke is involved).

In conclusion the second season of Arrow is pretty much better than the last season in every way. The story is constantly shifting creating new, exciting and unexpected scenarios for the heroes to overcome. All of the established characters grow and develop while newcomers step and shake things up in an interesting way. And with awesome action sequences, lovely references to the comic book source material and foreshadowing for bigger things to come, Arrow is just firing on all cylinders and it’s awesome!

Rating: 9/10

So what did you think of the second season of Arrow? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to leave them in the comments below and I’ll be sure to come back for my review of season 2! 😀

 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review

Howdy people of the internet, time to review a film I’ve been waiting to watch for AGES, I am of course talking about Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one of my favourite films of not only 2011 but also of the last few years and I was so hyped for what would happen for the future of this new film series. The trailers have all looked great and the early reviews have just put me in a good mood. So how has this sequel turned out? Well read on and find out!

Here is the film’s story in summary:

“A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.”

This film is pretty damn good as it tells an intelligent, dark, grim and unsettling tale of survival between two species when they unwillingly collide. This film is really grim with barely any happiness in sight, there is violence, war and death and the level of tension throughout the film is so intense that it will leave you gripping you gripping your seat just waiting to see what happens next. It is clear from the outset that both the humans and apes want to survive, but within their ranks some want peace while others want war and it is cool to see the parallels between the apes and humans. The film is also very tricky and throws you a good few curveballs to keep you from guess what will happen next and just when I thought something was going to happen one way, it totally changed direction which was fun and exciting.

As for the cast they are all pretty good, but it should be noted that after the film is over you’ll only remember two characters because of their awesomeness. So let’s start with the first of those characters in the form of Andy Serkis as Ceaser. Now Ceaser is character we got to see grow up and learn to find his place in the world in the last film, here he is a leader. The ape’s grown up, he’s the head of tribe of apes and he’s a family man and it quite beautiful and nice to see how far our hero has developed. We see in this film that Ceaser wants to keep his ape clan united, doesn’t want to fight humans and strives for peace, but due to the complications involving humans and apes within his group he is forced to make very tough decisions. I loved seeing the emotional complexities of this character and seeing how far he would go to help humans but also protect his people. Andy Serkis did such an amazing job in this role and he is making it harder to distinguish the difference between performance capture and normal acting.

The other major character who kicks as is Koba played by Toby Kebbell. Damn this character stepped up, I knew from the trailers he would have a bigger role in this film than the last, but his character is just as important as Ceaser in terms of where the story goes. Koba despises humans because of the torture and experiments they did on him in the past, he even has the scars to prove it and while he is loyal to Ceaser, he cannot accept the coexistence of humans and apes and goes to great lengths to make sure that he gets his revenge on them. Koba is mean, he is a dangerous, corrupt and crazy individual, but for all of his wrongdoings you do feel some compassion for the guy because he has had a my crappy life, he’s suffered at the hand of humans and since Ceaser is showing them mercy where he didn’t get any in the past obviously he’s gonna be pissed. Kebbell did such a great job with this character and I’m glad that he was the one to flesh out this character.

The humans don’t fare as well as the apes as they are not nearly as memorable and for me aren’t as interesting as the cast from the last film bar a few individuals. Jason Clarke is the best of the human characters as Malcolm, a man who has many similarities to Ceaser as he too is a family man and only wishes to coexist with the apes. Malcolm is a courageous and strong individual who goes to great lengths to try and keep things under control even when the situations he’s in are going south fairly quickly. Gary Oldman as Dreyfus was good but severely underused, I love Gary Oldman, any time he’s around you are in for a good time, however while I understood his character’s motives, at the same time he wasn’t in the film nearly as much as I would have liked. Kodi Smit-McPhee as Alexander and Keri Russell as Ellie did their parts well but I wasn’t overly fussed about them. The last mention I want to give is to Kirk Acevedo who played Carver, now this guy was a douche, he pretty much doesn’t care for the apes and blames them for everything that has gone wrong for the humans and his actions pretty set off sparks between humans and apes. I love Acevedo as Charlie from Fringe but here is so cruel and foolish, such bad guy.

When it comes to the presentation it is simply incredible. Visually this film is insanely beautiful, the CGI work by Weta Digital is nothing short of amazing, they have created incredible environments and along with the motion capture work they’ve brought the apes to life in a way that is so realistic, you actually forget that you’re watching CGI apes. Couple these great visual effects with some lovely cinematography and an interesting colour schemes and you have a wonderful-looking film. Also the soundtrack by Michael Giacchino is pretty cool too, the more subtle and tension-filled themes were among my favourites and use of the wooden xylophone was so cool, but I will say that while I am a massive fan of Giacchino this isn’t one of his memorable soundtracks.

In conclusion Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is easily one of the best films not only of the summer but also of the year. While the film didn’t turn out the way I expected, the film is still one of the most engaging and dramatic blockbusters we have gotten for some time and while Michael Bay continues to throw dumb and soulless material at audiences with Transformers 4, this happens to be a the total other end of the spectrum. I highly recommend that you go out and see this film as it is SO good and worthy of your time.

Rating: 8.5/10

So what did you think of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes? Did it make you happy or make you sad or angry? Whatever your thoughts are I’d love to read them, so be sure to comment below so we can start some discussions yo! Laters. 😀

 

The Avengers: Age of Ultron Images Galore! My Impressions! :D

Howdy ladies and gents, time for some film news and photo discussion. Earlier on today something amazing happened, the first set of official images for The Avengers: Age of Ultron dropped online and they looked so cool that I had to get on my blog and talk about them before the day was out. Just have a look at all the goodness below:

Well this is what I call a good day yo. When the cover photo for Iron Man, Captain America and Ultron debuted on Entertainment Weekly earlier on today I thought that was all the juice we were gonna get for today, but then out of nowhere bare images for this film dropped on several websites and I saw them all and then freaked out. I saw all of these images and I was just like “Holy crap, this shit is happening and it looks AWESOME!” I mean I’ve always known about this film’s coming in 2015 and it is pretty much my most anticipated film of next year, however since it isn’t in the press that much besides the odd interview and varying amounts of set photos released, but now we have some proper official images mixed in with screenshots featuring the whole cast in action in various places that gives us just a bit more information as to what to expect in the film.

So here’s just a few quick thoughts I wanted to summarise below:

1. Ultron looks badass, I mean he is a robot who has been drawn in a very specific manner that has made him hard to mess up and easy to translate into live action similar to Iron Man’s suit. But I am still glad to see that his look is still robot, sleek, detailed and sinister-looking with the red eyes at least I think they’re eyes lol)
2. Seeing Cap and Thor together like that is just lovely, they are two of my favourite Avengers and they look just as cool as ever. But Cap looks just that bit better as his uniform is finally looking professional enough that he belongs on a superhero team and didn’t get his costume from a Halloween shop
3. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver still look good, but aren’t any different from most of the set pictures we’re seen in the past
4. Seeing Bruce Banner and Tony Stark together is just joy to my eyes, Bruce and Tony’s small science conversations were some of my favourite moments in The Avengers and to see them again having their little bromance science talks is a great joy to me. Also seeing Banner in that lab coat just scream of the classic Banner character from the comics! 😀
5. Then there’s the return of Black Widow and Hawkeye who I’m glad to see back in this film. Both of them are looking great, but Hawkeye is looking a lot better with his new costume, running around in the forest avoiding explosions, looks like he’s gonna be badass
6. But what could possibly be my favourite image is seeing Steve Rogers, Clint Barton and Tony Stark together joined with none other than Rhodey aka War Machine together in what I could only image to be the inside of Stark Tower. It looks like they’re just chilling out and Rhodey may just be the voice of reason again. Just to see them all together is a beautiful scene here and the fact that Rhodey is near all this just makes me think that there may be a place for him on the team or at least future plans for him and the Avengers eventually

So what do you think of the latest images from Avengers 2? Does it fill your heart with excitement, leave you uninterested or are you wanting something more? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to leave them below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post yo! 😀

 

Rant 15: Ash Ketchum, A Failure of a Pokemon Trainer.

Howdy people and welcome to another instalment in my blogging rants. Today’s rant will be on something that I’ve wanted to talk about for quite some time over the last six months or so, and it concerns one of the biggest failures in the history of cartoons and video games… I am of course talking about Ash Ketchum, the Pokemon trainer.

Just look at this fool, he makes me angry just looking at him. 😡

So you may be wondering, why do I have such a massive beef with this little guy? Well I would like you to cast your mind back to the late 1990’s where fads were coming in left, right and center and Pokemon was the biggest thing in the history of the world. Besides the massive popularity and success of the video games and the trading cards, there was a little TV show that was probably just as big, if not bigger than the video games. This anime series focused on Ash Ketchum (pictured above), a ten-year old kid on a quest to become a Pokemon master. With his main Pokemon, Pikachu and his two friends Brock and Misty, Ash travelled all of the region of Kanto capturing Pokemon, defeating average trainers, taking on gym leaders for badges, beating up three idiotic members of Team Rocket on a regular basis. The show was made for kids and at the time it was pretty badass, to see all of the Pokemon in an animated form with voices, doing all their crazy moves and seeing Ash go on these crazy journeys it was fun, thrilling and exciting stuff. And some of us gamers had some things to say about the way in which the anime changed some of the basic elements of Pokemon Red and Blue, for the most part we liked it.

But by the time we got to Pokemon: The Johto Journeys (the third season of the anime), I started to notice the cracks in the foundation that made Ash Ketchum a likeable character. I mean he’d made some pretty foolish decisions before but I forgave him because I knew that the adventure wasn’t over and I assumed he would improve, however it was at this point I was like, “Dude what are you actually doing? Are you some kind of fool?” And unfortunately as time went on my respect for this boy declined more and more. By the time Pokemon: Advanced came around I was pretty much hanging on by a thread, the guy had come so far and yet still didn’t seem like he learnt anything plus he’d gotten rid of all his cool Pokemon for some really boring ones from the Ruby and Sapphire series. And when I had a look at the Black and White and saw that Ash was still chasing the same dream but was by no means any better of trainer than anything I had done in several of the games I had played, I knew that he was pretty much a failure.

Let’s just look at facts. Ash Ketchum wants to be come a be the ultimate Pokemon trainer and succeed at everything, but he’s so many things wrong like:

• Ash doesn’t have basic battle tactics and still doesn’t use type advantages properly
• The guy gets rid of most his good Pokemon after he changes region which is idiotic and not becoming of a person who wants to become a Pokemon master
• Also if Ash wants to be a Pokemon master then why isn’t he trying to complete his Pokedex? The guy runs into so many Pokemon, especially rare ones and never catches one. FOOL!
• The guy loses, A LOT and it isn’t because he fights really hard, but more because of rookie mistakes

Ash Ketchum started his adventure in 1997 and 18 series later he’s still trying to do what all of us in the video game world have done several times over across 6 generations of portable video games.

Now those of us that have played the Pokemon games we have captured, battled and trained our Pokemon and completed everything and yet this prick, Ash Ketchum can’t even advance past the first Pokemon League in the first season. Weak. But what makes it even worse is that the game equivalent of Ash known as Red from Gold and Silver who you find in Mt. Silver is a beast! He pretty much has most of Ash’s Pokemon in their max evolutions (besides Pikachu) and their all in the 80’s, he’s a dangerous man if you’re not prepared… He is more of a man and a trainer then that Ash Ketchum will ever be.

Bloody hell just talking about Ash pisses me off. Over the years he has just gotten worse and worse.. I have re-watched some of his older adventures and it is his whole attitude, the way he battles, the type of Pokemon he’s collected, his lack of progression, everything about this boy screams of failure! And what makes him even more of a failure is that after watching Red’s performance in Pokemon: Origins he accomplished in a 4-part OVA what Ash has been doing for how many seasons of the main anime show. He sucks. Period.

So if you think that Ash is such a hero, just look at the following images:

Well that’s it really. I hope this has been an insightful rant and if you’ve had any similar experiences please be sure to comment about it in comments below. Until the next time people, laters. 🙂