The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

How will Christopher Nolan follow up the genius that was The Dark Knight? This has been quite possibly the most asked question in the movie world since the end credits of that film began rolling way back in July 2008.  Four years and another critically acclaimed hit in between (Inception), we finally get a chance to answer that question.

Best. Batman. Movie. Ev…- wait, timeout. Before I can make that particular distinction about this film, I’m going to need to see it again. Not saying that the project couldn’t be enjoyed by only seeing it once but more so explaining that a franchise of this caliber with a director of this level of engaging story-telling needs to be experienced more than once in order to fully gather its essence of sheer awesome.

I might need to see it a third time, heck I might need to see it together at the same time while its’ 2008 predecessor is also being played. No, that won’t work. I’m a man of many talents, like Mr. Bruce Wanye, but being able to watch two movies at once (without the aid of commercial breaks and the “previous channel” button on the remote) is not easy.  As with all of Mr. Nolan’s movie-offspring, you’re going to need to pay attention to this film. Not so much in the same magnitude of say an Inception or even a Memento but if you’re a Bat-fan, such as myself, you’re going to want to soak in every little detailed nook and cranny. Honestly, I admit I’ve probably watched The Dark Knight about 69 times (no, I didn’t choose that number at random) and still find something new almost every viewing. As a director, Nolan is just that much in his films as are the actors that he casts for them.

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Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1

After just over a year, the Twi-nomenon has returned in all of its twi-glory.  Twi-hards can be heard rejoicing all over the en-twire world.  The twi-series is back to earning to some major twi-bucks.  Okay, that’s enough of that.  Love it, hate it or just not really caring much about it at all (I place myself in the latter), TWILIGHT is guaranteed for at least one thing; complete Box Office dominance.  It did not disappoint earning itself a spot behind the very epic DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 that premiered back in July for the second highest grossing opening weekend this year.  Not bad, but there is a line to be drawn between quantity (ticket sales) and film quality. 

For those of you who follow my writing you might remember my mini-adventure involving ECLIPSE.  If not, you can read it here.  Those of you who don’t should hang your head in utter shame.  Since I put time and effort into that film, I figured I might as well attempt to do the same for this one.  Only I didn’t, I was simply invited and figured ‘why not?’, if anything I’ll earn myself a free 2 hours of sleep.  But while I actually felt that BREAKING DAWN’s predecessor was a semi-decent film, I don’t really feel like I can say the same for the latest chapter however.

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The Howling Reborn

A nice change from the usual supernatural beings vs. supernatural beings storyline, THE HOWLING REBORN focuses upon just one member of the group.  I think out of all them, I might choose to become a werewolf if I were given a choice.  Sure, vampires and monsters are cool but do you really want to live forever and drink nothing but blood all the time?  With werewolves, you still get the super strength, fast healing powers and for some reason they always look like they’ve spent an eternity in the gym.  You still get to eat regular food and see the sun from time to time.  Yeah, I think I’ll take that one.  Joe Nimziki’s film about the creatures is unrelated to any of the other HOWLING chapters, and there are plenty, but it is actually based upon the novel, THE HOWLING II by Gary Bradner.

The plot is fairly easy to follow.  A woman artist, Catherine (Ivana Milicevic), is unexpectedly attacked by an unseen assailant while she is pregnant.  18 years later, guess what?  We are introduced to our main character, Will (Landon Liboiron), who lives with his single father and is on the horizon of graduating the lovely prison  some of us call high school.  Of course there is a beautiful girl, Eliana (Lindsey Shaw), he has been obsessing over for the past four years but has never had the guts to even say hi.  He has some choice run-ins with her Abercrombie & Fitch boyfriend that leave him a little scratched and bruised. On the day of graduation he begins to feel a little strange and notices his body is going through some changes that he can’t credit to puberty anymore.  Throughout the day, he faces many encounters as his mysterious past origins are finally explained and he takes a chance on life and love with the girl of his dreams.

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Sean's Halloween Horrorfest

The day that they call All-Hallows-Eve is upon us.  Every year we think about creative ways to dress up our children in cute and funny little costumes so they can pretend to be someone else for a day.  The more candy they bring home the higher their confidence and energy rises along with parents’ frustration of now having super-hyped children doped up on sugar running around the house.  Halloween also gives women the excuse to dress in skimpy outfits and not be ridiculed for it.  Honestly, I think if females could wear these outfits to work, they would.  I mean we (men) aren’t going to stop them.  We’ll simply have to sacrifice some production at work to get another type of sweets; Eye-candy.

Those of us who love film, however, coincide Halloween with the horror genre.  Oh, how we love it so.  For us, Halloween is an excuse for us to scare the liquid crap out of those un-brave souls who always prefer to watch another type of movie.  Well this is our time and we reserve the right to embrace it.  No, I haven’t seen every horror film in the very vast library of spookiness and I will even admit that I am missing some of the classics on my career list.  But in my quest to see as many as I possibly can before the good Lord decides to return and place judgment upon us all, I was able to see and deem an opinion on these select couple that will follow below.

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Review BLOOD: Re-cap of Ep. 43

Episode 43 and counting…“Cold Grey Light of Dawn”

The full moon evening that took us to the end of the last episode also opens the beginning of this one.  Sookie and Eric must really have been pretty backed up because they’re love fest lasted an awfully long time.  Beginning in the forest and ending in Sookie’s bed with different stops in-between, they made sure they satisfied their sexual desire.  They also enjoyed a nice cuddle session afterwards which got a little cheesy for my tastes.  Still seeing Eric act like a perfect gentleman is very strange, and a little sickening at times.

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Review BLOOD: Re-cap of Ep. 42

Episode 42 and counting…"I Wish I Was the Moon"

Sookie has been rather warmly welcomed back into the world of sex by her amnesiac of a housemate vampire, Eric.  The episode starts off very steamy but it is interrupted by King Bill.  After realizing what has happened to Eric firsthand, he suggests that Eric suffer the “true death”, of course.  Although he is probably un-reparably hurt by the sight of Eric and Sookie’s naked bodies entangled in each other, you can see him struggle with his decision to take Eric into custody and kill him.  Of course, his “heart” gets the best of him at the end (like we didn’t see that coming, they’re not going to kill off Eric) and lets the Viking return to his Sookie.  The episode ends with them getting it on pretty good in the woods.  After all, it's everyone’s fantasy to sex someone in the forest, isn’t it?

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Review Blood: Re-cap of Ep. 41

Episode 41 and counting… “I Hate You, I Love You”

So Sookie seems to be falling for the same man, well vampire, that she used to absolutely loathe.  Although Eric has become a character who has lost his “vampire balls”, he has begun to find a path into Ms. Stackhouse’s good graces, and her bed for that matter.  Yeah, they didn’t have sex but cuddling can be considered a very intimate activity.  Even between human and vampire.  Ms. Portia Bellefleur doesn’t seem to mind that she has been boning her great-great-great-great grandfather in the form of Bill.  She even researched the topic and tried to convince King Compton that incest isn’t so bad and it’s a good idea to continue their sex-capades.  Bill quickly glamour’s her into feeling the opposite and she runs away screaming.

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The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer

Nothing else to say other than "Watch":

Review Blood: Re-cap of Ep. 40

Episode 40 and counting… "I’m Alive and On Fire"

This week’s episode continues to have Eric being a “nice” guy but also somewhat delusional after draining and killing Sookie’s fairy-godmother.  She enlists the help of Alcide to find him after he runs off.  They locate him swimming in a lake during the day just before he begins to catch some serious burns from the sun.  There is more chemistry caught on screen between Sookie and Alcide, including Sookie staring him up and down when he begins to undress to shift into a wolf.  You can also tell there’s going to be some tension between him and his girlfriend due to his interaction with our main character.

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Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part II (2011)

Sitting in the theater I waited surprisingly patient for the conclusion of the end.  The end of an epic, the end of an era, the end of something rather big.  Heck, you might as well call the Harry Potter series this generations Star Wars.  Yeah, it lasted two more movies than the latter did but still, it’s that big a deal.  I got there pretty early, finished up my nachos and reluctantly listened to the mixed crowd of mostly young and quite annoying people count down the time until the final installment began.  Finally, the lights lowered, the speakers awoken and we were met with about almost 10 minutes of previews.  The only one I was really, really, really (did I use enough really’s) looking forward to was The Dark Knight Rises.  Yeah I saw it already but I was actually a little nervous to see it on the big screen.  After it was over, I kind of felt like my evening had reached its climax.  I realized I was more looking forward to this 1:36 teaser trailer than the actual feature film I had paid money for.  It was then that I knew what a woman felt like whose partner didn’t quite last as long as she had hoped.  But, thankfully, that all changed about a half hour into the movie.

Harry (Danielle Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are still looking for the Horcruxes.  For those of you who don’t follow, these are seemingly random items that are the keys to defeating the Dark Lord known as Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).  He has recently gathered the Elder Wand (a wand that makes its owner unbeatable) and is gaining strength.  The crew as I call them must desperately find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them in order to have any shot at defeating this wizard.  Throughout the film, and book, they enlist help from any and everywhere they can possibly find it.  All the way up to the point where You-Know-Who comes gently knocking on the walls of Hogwarts castle looking to kill “the boy who lived”.

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Review Blood: Re-cap of Ep. 39

Episode 39 and counting… “If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin?”

Another good episode. Seems season four is going for the record of most great episodes in a row. I know many True Blood fans feel that all of the episodes are great but I feel some are better than others. So far this season has been pretty consistent in maintaining my complete attention throughout every one. Now to the nitty gritty: Sookie has taken on the role of caretaker for an amnesia-stricken Eric. Obviously despite his forgotten memory and new found niceness about him, his vampire instincts are still very much intact. This includes biting and completely draining Sookie’s fairy godmother of her life force. An act to which he simply replies “Sorry”. Still classic Eric.

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Review Blood: Re-cap of Ep. 38

Episode 38 and counting…“You Smell Like Dinner”

Oh my stakes! I know that was pretty cheesy but it was meant to be. This week’s episode was possibly even bigger than the major hype that last week’s premiere brought along with it. Sookie is really having a difficult time having Eric so involved, and infatuated, with her life. It’s hilarious to hear her get upset and start cursing like when she discovered Eric’s sleeping cubby. “What the mother**k?!” Hilarious! Our vampire sheriff is really pulling out all the stops trying to get Sookie to like him. It seems she’s immune to the charm that has all of the shows female fans uncrossing and then re-crossing their legs whenever he shows up on screen. But for how long can she resist?

Sam’s life is taking a turn for the better, a most beautiful better. Luna (Janina Gravankar) is certainly a site to behold, especially from behind according to Sam. I was pretty surprised at how quickly he got her to like him. I guess ‘ol Merlotte has got some game. Her past looks to be pretty interesting as it unfolds in the coming weeks. Arlene’s paranoia about her son continues to grow to the point of hysteria. She receives a blood shot eye for her troubles, and from what it looks like, her baby boy gave it to her. Maybe she should quit telling him how terrible he’s going to be. Jason is in even more of a pickle than we last left him. His love, Crystal, has finally returned but with her brother/fiancé/lover right beside her. They have some pretty extreme plans for Jay and he has no wishes to be a part of them. Becoming a were-panther isn’t for everyone.

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Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Despite all of the ongoing negativity of the previous Transformers film, Revenge of the Fallen, the great and all-powerful Michael Bay has returned to bring us what is said to be the final piece in his trilogy. Dark of the Moon looked awfully awesome in pretty much all of its trailers. But, as I said to myself, someone who grew up watching the animated series on television and who also watched the entire original 1986 movie on You Tube one night for the heck of it, Bay’s films always look great in their trailers. This is true. Anyone care to disagree? But I simply couldn’t prevent myself from getting uber-excited as the release date drew nearer and nearer. I thoroughly enjoyed the first film and was slightly disappointed with the second. Hoping that they would bring a darker edge to the story and cut down on some of the comedy, I bought my ticket and sat in my seat.

The story to Dark of the Moon feels like it wants to be complicated, like it wants to be one of those science fiction plotlines that will keep you so fixated on every word that your eardrum might begin to bleed. But it’s not. It’s pretty basic and easy to follow. This is a good thing. A good thing because for a film such as this, you really want to just sit back and marvel at the special effects and action. In a nutshell, it has come to the attention of our hero Autobots that a spaceship from Cybertron, their home planet, actually crashed on the moon back in 1961. It has also come to the attention of our hero Autobots that there are humans that knew about this event and who failed to mention a word of it to anyone. Upon further investigation of the ship, Optimus and Ratchet discover another Autobot on it. I’ll use the word out-of-commission to describe the state that he laid in upon the ship.

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Review Blood: Re-cap of Ep. 37

Episode 37 and counting…"She’s Not There"

So Sookie is a fairy or fae or whatever you want to call her. Just don’t call her unattractive because that she is still not. She gets a chance to visit what I call “Fairyland” or so she thought. Things quickly take a turn for the worse in a hurry when she is sought after by yet another group of supernatural beings. Her life just can’t be normal can it? She briefly reunites with her Grandfather (which to me was the most solemnly genuine character interaction of the episode) and returns home to discover that she has been away for an entire year. 12 and half months to be exact which only felt like 15 minutes to her. Her brother, Jason, has sold her house and become a full blown police officer. He seems to be all grown up.

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TRUE BLOOD: 3 seasons in 5 minutes

Are you a fan of TRUE BLOOD? Of course you are. I mean why wouldn't you be? If you are, besides being super-intelligent because you are a fan, then you already know that the Fourth season begins tonight on HBO at 9pm. It's been pretty much almost an entire year since the Third one ended. So if you forgot any of the happenings of that or any of the previous episodes of the series, then I have a gift for you. Below lies a recap of the entire series in five minutes. You can thank me later. Enjoy.

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X-Men: First Class (2011)

We know how we all feel about the previous X-Men films. And, well, that feeling is not too good. Personally, I felt part 1 was decent but weak at the same time. I honestly really enjoyed the first sequel. The action, introduction of new characters and overall plot was great. Then we were introduced to the third installment and we wanted to cry. Cry due to mourning over a franchise which seemed to have such great promise. Then news dropped of several possible spin-offs depicting our favorite mutants and the telling of their origins. First up, arguably the most popular X-Man, Wolverine. Our tears from the last movie were followed by the laying of black flowers on the franchises’ grave after that project. It did wonderful at the Box Office, despite being leaked prior to its release, but the quality of the movie was pretty subpar. We removed our funeral clothing at the end of the day and prepared ourselves for no more X-Men movies. Well at least we hoped.

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Me vs. the Tech Nation

"The Nerds Have Won!"

So I was on the train the other day and happened to noticed what has become the acceptable fad nowadays. At least half the people in the car had their nose buried in some kind of tech device. A few months ago a TV personality Chris Hardwick made a comment about this saying "the nerds have won!" I agree with this somewhat, but to what extent did we actually win?

Whenever I see someone toying around with their smartphones and/or blackberries (that sounds dirty) and/or tablets (i.e.: ipads), I can't help but think that 10 short years ago, showing just a remote interest in these kinds of gadgets would have been considered nerdy by most people. Think about how many people had internet access in their homes during that period, back in 2000, and think about how many people are on facebook today. But what really has me raising an eyebrow to all of this is how so long ago I would have been made fun of for being into all this techie stuff, and now I'm almost made fun of for not giving a shit about it.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Part four and counting, Walt Disney Pictures continues its one time trilogy into a, for now, quartet of a film franchise. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides returns to the screen with basically some of its original, cheery-eyed cast intact. Usuals and choice favorites, Orland Bloom & Keira Knightley, chose not to reprise their roles. But everyone’s lovable and normally deceitful captain sailed his way back onto the theater. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, excuse me, Captain Jack Sparrow is with new direction this time. Rob Marshall picks up directing duties from the franchises normal head, Gore Verbinksi.

When we last found Captain Sparrow (Johnny Depp) he had set sail in a tiny dinghy in the direction of the Fountain of Youth. By now, four years later, you would think that maybe he has found it. You would be incorrect because movie time has never quite equaled real-life time. Not only has he not yet found these legendary waters but we find his first mate, Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally), on trial with the court believing that he is in fact Sparrow. After exchanging some dazzling pleasantries with the King of England’s superior guards, with them in pursuit of him, Sparrow crosses paths with someone from his past. Enter the still very beautiful Penelope Cruz as Angelica, yet another female that the womanizing Sparrow has “loved and left”.

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Mourning The Chicago Code

It is with a very heavy heart and saddened demeanor that I pass on this dreadful news. I don't know just how many of you had begun to watch or even heard of a nice little cop-drama by the name of The Chicago Code. It starred Jennifer Beals as Teresa Colvin, the first ever female Police Superintendent for the Chicago PD. Her main mission upon becoming the highest ranking police officer in the city of Chicago was attempting to take down corrupt Alderman Ronin Gibbons (Delroy Lindo). Curiosity peaked yet?

She assembles a secret and very small task force consisting of her former partner Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke), who has his own personal uncertainties at home, and Caleb Evers (Matt Lauria). They are given the green light by the Super to take on whatever and any cases they feel are the most important within the city. Also handpicked by Colvin, deep undercover officer Liam Hennessey (Billy Lush), tries to navigate his way through the corrupt ranks of Gibbons' evil empire in order to finally bring the city official to justice. The show is created by Shawn Ryan who birthed the show Terriers which was also removed from the air.

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Thor (2011)

Marvel movie number whatever it is right now is the second big film of the summer.  I only say that because Fast 5 has proven itself to be the first.  Even though it is still officially Spring, the mega-blockbusters are beginning to roll themselves into theaters.  Hopefully so that many moviegoers will roll green-colored- paper out of their wallets and roll their butts into the seats.  Thor is one of many links on the path towards Marvel’s eventual Avengers destination.  The next link on this road will be Captain America, which just might turn out to better than this step. 

Chris Hemsworth takes on the role of the God of Thunder and the heir to Odin’s, the king of Asgard, (Anthony Hopkins) throne.  From the beginning of the film, the audience can sense the jealousy that is pulsating from Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor’s younger brother.  When the day finally arrives for him to realize his destiny as King, the eldest prince proves that he truly isn’t ready. He carries himself with a brash and recklessness of a warrior but not a leader.  After there is a breach in security by the Frost Giants, enemies to Odin and the people of Asgard, Thor instantly wishes to declare war upon them.  Not even the strict forbiddance of this by his father deters the eventual hero from paying the race of giants a visit.

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