My Return, Just In Time for Summer...

First, I would like to say thank you to the guys over at From the Boss's Desk. Reading their excellent blog has prompted me to get off my ass and post something. If you are into film and video games, I urge you to give their blog a look. 

As the summer movie season has begun, please allow me to give you a brief rundown on the films that I am most excited about, and one movie that I saw last night.

Thor:  I have to say that is was pretty friggin' good. The hammer Mjolnir was tossed, Frost Giants were smashed, Loki was tricksy, Sif was hot and Volstagg ate. The entire cast did an excellent job, there was the now traditional after credits teaser and even a cameo appearance by another Avenger. This picture was a good start to the summer season.

Green Lantern: Director Martin Campbell saved James Bond, and I think that he will perform magic with Green Lantern. While this will be another one of those origin movies, the trailer has shown a lot of things that hint they have a grander plan for any future films if this thing franchises out. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel, because I would love to see some of the more recent Lantern stories on the big screen.

X-Men - First Class: I originally hated the idea of this movie. The last couple of X-Films were god awful, and I didn't think this was going to be any better.  But thanks to Layer Cake, Stardust and Kick-Ass, director Matthew Vaughn has earned the benefit of the doubt. The trailers have been better than I have expected, and January Jones is playing Emma Frost. Plus there is Kevin Bacon! An X-Men movie with Kevin Bacon!! If that doesn't say summer movie fun, I don't know what does.

Super 8: I have no idea what the hell is really going on in that movie, but it looks like there is a monster/alien that will be killing folks. Good enough for me. Plus J.J. Abrams has shown me that he is better than the crap fest that was every season of Alias after the second one and that Lost abomination.

Captain America - The First Avenger: Hugo Weaving is playing the Red Skull.  If Pee-Wee Herman were playing Cap, as long as Weaving is the Skull the studio would still have my $10.

Hangover II: I that lightning can strike twice.  The first one was hysterical, but to avoid disappointment, I am keeping my expectations in check.

Transformers - Dark of the Moon: The first Transformers movie was fun, the second one... not so much. The recent trailer looks to have the franchise back on track and if this is the final film (at least directed by Michael Bay) then it appears that things will end on a high note.

Cowboys and Aliens: How can anyone not want to see this? The trailer looks amazing, Harrison Ford looks like he's the bad guy, and how in the hell do cowboys beat aliens in the first place? I have no familiarity to the comic book, graphic novel or whatever that the movie is based on, and have stayed away from it on purpose. I am actually going into the film blind, and could not be happier.

Dad

My father, Craig Dennis Thigpen, passed away on July 13th 2010. I thank him for the memories that he has given me: 

watching Bruce Lee Week with him and my brother... Old English Pizza... my first comic books... introducing me to Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer... taking me to see the NBA in it's prime (Magic, Bird and Jordan)... my first NFL game (so what if it was the Falcons?)... teaching me to fight dirty, "helping" us with our school projects... watching him dote on his grandchildren... watching the NCAA tournament and the term "start up the bus"... his catch phrase "the thing about it is"... how proud he looked after my high school graduation... going to Gullifty's... going to Erol's and Movies Unlimited to rent movies for the weekend... the family slide shows with popcorn... the Kappa Bug... going to his office in the PSFS building for the first time... introducing me to Pat Metheny, Miles Davis and John Coltrane... Thursday nights at the supermarket... the horrible video and the "Is this live?" comment... 

I will cherish these memories and many more for the rest of my life. I hope that I made him proud of me, as I was always proud of him. I just wish I had the chance to tell him that, and that I loved him, as I don't think I have told him enough. I know that he knew it, but I wish I got to say it just once more.

Not The, but A List...

We love to list things.  I think we do it so we can have something to argue about.  No matter who compiles it, we flock to the lists and then the debate begins.  “Why wasn’t this person/movie/team included?” “How did person/team/movie make this list?” the arguments go on and one.  Some of these list are very well done (Empire’s 500 Greatest Movies of All Time list comes to mind and can be experienced right here), others not so much (Entertainment Weekly’s various attempts at the same type of list). 

I had a subscription to EW once, and I hated it.  They seem more interested in making nice with the actors and studios than actually giving you any real information on anything interesting.  The potential for great things is there, but just has never been realized.  It’s too bad.  I think that they could be the US equivalent of Empire if they really tried, but it will never happen. EW's most recent list is at least interesting.  EW has listed (according to them) The100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years.  The characters are from movies, TV and video games.  Why did they do this?  Your guess is as good as mine.  You can buy a copy of EW to read the reasoning behind the list (then tell me because I refuse to buy the magazine) or view the entire list here.  Here is the top 20:

20. Ally McBeal from Ally McBeal
19. Morpheus from The Matrix series
18. Sue Sylvester from Glee
17. Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise
16. Bridget Jones from the Bridget Jones series
15. Shrek from the Shrek series
14. Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski from The Big Lebowski
13. Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean series
12. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from The X-Files
11. Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld
10. SpongeBob SquarePants from SpongeBob SquarePants
9. Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City
8. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs and its sequels
7. Edward Scissorhands from Edward Scissorhands
6. Rachel Green from Friends
5. The Joker from The Dark Knight
4. Tony Soprano from The Sopranos
3. Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series
1. Homer Simpson from The Simpsons

Wax on, Take off the Jacket...

But first…

The Empire Strikes Back turned 30 this month.  I can remember going to see it for the first time, how excited that I was.  I was trying hard to imagine what would happen, trying to put together what I saw in the previews into some type of coherence, to give me a clue as to what to expect.  What I got was so much more, and it was one of the best movie going experiences of my young life.

Saying all of that, I am not one of the people that took Star Wars as a religion or swear by the original 3 movies as the Greatest Trilogy of All Time.  I would say that Empire is the best of the series (and I am including all six films), but the best trilogy of films is something open to debate.  I just wanted to acknowledge Empire’s anniversary.

The remake/reboot train in Hollywood is still barreling down the track, and next up  is The Karate Kid.  The original movie was released back in 1984 (and the name The Karate Kid is a trademark of DC comics for the character of the same name for those who didn't know) and can basically be described as Rocky Jr.  The plot revolves around a boy forced to move from New Jersey to California with his mom, and while trying to adjust to life in his new surroundings he falls in love with a girl that as an ex boyfriend that has a black belt and bad attitude.  The bully and his friends proceed to beat up on our young hero until a janitor proficient in the martial arts takes pity on the hero and trains him.  This culminates in a battle between hero and bully in a local martial arts tournament.  If you can’t see how this movie ends, there is just no help for you.

The new version sees the lead character move to China.  So this kid looks like he will be a true fish out of water, having to deal with not only new surroundings but also a new culture.  He too gets beat up by bullies, and is saved then trained by a guy that looks to be a janitor as well.  There are also scenes of a tournament in this film as well.  Again, if you cannot see how this is going to end…

It has been 26 years since the original, and that means that there is a whole generation of kids that have no idea who Ralph Macchio/Daniel-san is.  It is possible that the parents who remember the original fondly will show it to their kids before or after seeing the new one, but I doubt that will happen.  Fans of the first will see some similarities in the training (“Put on the jacket/Take off the jacket” as opposed to “Wax on/Wax off”).  There will be a kid getting beat up by other kids for reasons that only make sense to other kids (usually the bullies).  There will be some type of message that you can take away from the film at the end.  But beyond those things, I am sure that this movie will make its mark in its own way, maybe not distancing itself from the original but doing something to establish itself as “new” somehow.  I wish it the best. 

If this movie does well, there will be even more remakes/reboots on the horizon.  It will just become a question of whether a film is too "sacred" to be touched.  And in Hollywood, there is no such thing as sacred.

Idle Thoughts

James Cameron has the top 2 highest grossing movies ever, Avatar followed by Titanic.  Both movies have made billions of dollars.  Maybe now Cameron can make a movie about how the US economy gets better, and then that movie could make billions too.  Then the government would have a plan that they could follow.


The Winter Olympics start this weekend.  Millions of people will be glued to their TVs watching Curling, and have no idea what the hell is going on.


Downloaded music, movies and video games are supposed to be the wave of the future, replacing physical media.  All of that downloaded content is saved to a hard drive of some sort.  What happens if that had drive crashes?  Would I really have to buy all that stuff again?  Or, after downloading it to my drive, am I considered a pirate if I back it up on a disk?


If Superman was less than super one day, could you sue him for false advertising?  


The TV show Lost is in its final season.  Good.  Cause it's awful.*


Movies in 3D is a fad.  Again.  What makes a come back next?  Good music?  


*I tried watching the first 3 episodes of Lost when it first started.  The show just didn't grab me, and I found that I hated all of the characters.  For those who love it and will miss it, I am sorry for your loss.  But not really, cause it was awful.

State of the Blog for 2010

Hello all. 

I would like to wish you a Happy New Year, and no it's not too late to do that.  It's still January, so it counts.

This post is mainly to inform you of some changes to this blog.  As this is a new year, I have decided to make some changes in the way that I do some things.  I am going to attempt to post at least twice a month, most likely once every other week.... starting in February.  Life happens, so I may not be as able to post as often as I want (or even have anything worth saying) but I figure that every other week is a schedule that I should be able to keep.  The type of posts will still be the same, for the most part.  I am also in the planning stages of a re-design of the blog page itself, though I do not know how long that will actually take. 

What you will no longer see on this blog are stories of various lengths or any more poems.  That stuff will be posted to a new blog that will be dedicated to those things only.  Once I have what I feel is enough content, I will let everyone know that the page is up and available for viewing.

To those who have been visiting and hanging in there with me, thanks.  I hope that you like what you have seen and see in the coming months.

Everybody's Doing It

The end of another year is upon us. That means there are going to be hundreds of "Best Of" lists. So what's one more? This is my first attempt at such a list, and just like most of the other lists, it is based on my opinion. This is a small list, as I am not crazy. Feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel the need to voice your displeasure with my choices.

Best Horror Movie of 2009: Drag Me to Hell - Sam Raimi comes back to horror movies. It wasn't The Evil Dead, but was a lot of fun

Best Horror Movie of the Decade: Let the Right One In - The best vampire movie I have seen in years, maybe ever. It is getting an American remake, which will have a lot to live up to.

Best Action Movie of 2009: Star Trek - J.J. Abrams breathes life into a franchise that was all but dead. Even non-Trekkies loved this movie, and that speaks to what a great job that all parties did on this film.

Best Action Movie of the Decade: The Bourne Ultimatum - Has the best one on one fight seen in recent memory, and wrapped up the trilogy nicely

Best Comedy of 2009: The Hangover -This movie will probably be remembered for not just being hysterical, but for inspiring hundreds if not thousands of guys to try and recreate the night they saw on screen. Problem is, the majority of those guys will either never make the wedding or end up dead.

Best Comedy of the Decade: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - In the last decade, no movie is more quotable that this. It was brilliant in it's zaniness, and was responsible for making Will Ferrell a star.

Best Movie of 2009: Inglourious Basterds - Not much action at all, but one of the best war movies ever made.

Best Movie of the Decade: The Departed - Martin Scorsese does another mob movie, but even though this time it is the Irish mob instead of Italians, it is no less brilliant. Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon at their best.

Best Movie Trailer of 2009 (for a movie coming out in 2010): Kick-Ass - I have to agree with everyone else; this movie looks like it is going to be a lot of fun in crazy and inappropriate ways. Hit Girl looks like she is going to be the breakaway character, and people are saying that this movie will revive Nicolas Cage's career.

Best Comedy of 2009: Modern Family - Yeah the year ain't over yet, but this show has outclassed every other comedy by being consistently funny.

Best Comedy of the Decade: The Office - The misadventures of Michael Scott and the employees of Dunder Mifflin continue to make me laugh, and miss my days working at Warner Bros.)

Best Animated Show of 2009: Titan Maximum - The guys responsible for Robot Chicken spoof Japanese giant robot shows to hilarious effect.

Best Animated Show of the Decade: Family Guy - They take shots at everyone and everything. Nothing is sacred and you may feel a little guilty when you laugh, but you still laugh hard anyway.

Best TV Show of 2009: Supernatural - In what may be the final season, demon hunting brothers Sam and Dean Winchester have been manipulated in unleashing Lucifer on earth and now have to stop him from unleashing the apocalypse on earth. the mess will get bigger before it gets better, but the last year of the show has been spectacular.

Best TV Show of the Decade: The Wire - HBO's show started off with the cops vs the drug dealers, but was actually so much more than that. It was the best show that no one watched, a sad fate too many great shows have.

Best Comic Book of 2009: Irredeemable - Mark Millar does a story of what would happen if a Superman like character finally went nuts, and it ain't pretty. If some movie studio is smart, they would option this for a movie.

Best Comic Book of the Decade: Daredevil - Matt Murdock has been through a lot in his life, but that last decade saw him locked up, married, divorced, fired from his law practice and leading a group of ninjas that spent most of their existence trying to kill him. Only Captain America went through more crap, and he was dead.

Best Video Game of 2009: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for the Playstation 3 - Everything the last Indiana Jones movie should have been: thrilling, funny and just a fun time. An exclusive to the Playstation 3, it is probably the best game on that system.

Best Video Game of the Decade: God of War II for the Playstation 2 - Follow up to the great God of War, Kratos continues his quest of vengeance against the gods of Olympus. Visually stunning at the time, games are still going for that God of War feel (I'm looking at you, Bayonetta and Dante's Inferno.) 2010 will see the release of God of War 3 and the end of the trilogy.