Saturday, September 29, 2012

Troll 2: Part 1


You are in for a treat today, I am going to review one of the worst films of all time.  This thing is epically bad.  It’s so bad I am going to have to do it in several parts because I can’t sit through the whole thing in one sitting lol.  What do you need to know about Troll 2?  For starters, there are zero trolls in the movie.  You may be asking, “Why is it called Troll 2 then?!”  Well, it goes something like this….There was a movie out called Troll and the makers of Troll 2 were hoping some people might think this movie is a sequel and watch it.  Yup, that’s the story.

As I mentioned, there are no trolls in this movie, it’s actually about Goblins.  These goblins are always trying to trick people into eating this weird green goop that turns them into half human, half plant beings that the goblins love to eat.  Yeah, that really is the plot of the movie.  Next we meet a family, I don’t even know their names and it really doesn’t matter.  They are apparently going to some random country town for a month and swapping homes with some family from that town.  How did they work all of this out?  Who knows, it’s never explained.
 
This kid is sitting in his bed while his grandpa reads him a story about goblins and warns him that they are real and they want to eat people.  As it turns out, the kid is crazy or seeing ghosts or something because his grandpa is actually dead and no one can see him but the kid.  His mom walks into the room and over explains everything just to make sure the audience knows what’s going on.  She says something like “Now Joshua, you know you live in this house with your father, your sister, and me, your mother.  Your grandpa, my dad, is dead”.  Obviously the kid knows who he lives with and apparently the script writer thought it would be much too complicated for the audience to simply see the family in the house and figure things out, he had to actually write it all out so we know for sure.

We cut to a scene of the sister in the movie, she is just bench pressing in her room for fun while listening to music on her headphones.  We find out that the family is vacationing in a town called Nilbog (Goblin spelled backwards).  Then we cut back to the girl about 10 minutes later and she is still benching pressing the same bar!  Apparently this chick has super endurance or it weighs about 2lbs because she hasn’t taken a break.  Her boyfriend decides it’s a good idea to climb a ladder and sneak into her room without her knowing, causing her to scream….and somehow no one in the house hears this.

Next, she randomly knees him in the balls for no reason and instantly becomes romantic after that.  She is bipolar I guess?!  Now we get some weird conversation with them where she explains how her family hates him because he hangs out with his friends all of the time.  How do they know his friends and why don’t they like them?  Who knows.  Immediately after explaining how her parents don’t like her boyfriend and can’t know he is in the house, she says he can come on vacation with them.  I guess her family got over not liking him in those 2 seconds.  The only condition is he has to promise not to bring his buddies along, which he agrees too.

The very next scene is everyone traveling to Nilbog and this boyfriend somehow got an RV that is loaded up with all of his friends!  lol, I guess the girls parents were right, these guys have a weird relationship with each other and apparently have to be around each other all of the time.  Alright, that is all for now but this masterpiece will continue.

Friday, September 28, 2012

The Avengers


With the release of The Avengers on DVD/Blu-ray this week, I have decided to review the summer blockbuster.  The basic plot revolves around Loki, the brother of Thor, working for a mysterious alien and leading an army to earth so he can rule.  To counter this attack, a secret Government organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. assembles the earth’s mightiest heroes.  Pretty much everyone loves this movie and I like it as well.  It’s a big, fun, summer popcorn flick and there is nothing wrong with that.

Marvel has taken years to build up to this film by making movies about the individual characters first.  This was a very wise plan.  Team movies with big casts tend to have the problem of trying to develop all of their characters in a 2-2.5 hour time span.  By having one or more individual movies come out first, everyone is already familiar with all of the characters in the movie.  This allows them to move straight into the action.

The only real complaint I have about The Avengers is that I didn’t care for the Governments technology very much.  Besides Iron Man, who is supposed to be way ahead of his time, the technology that had been shown in the previous films was basically what we have in real life.  But S.H.I.E.L.D.  has flying air craft carriers and all sorts of crazy gadgets, it just felt like watching a G.I. Joe cartoon from the 1980s.  This isn’t a big deal, I haven’t even heard anyone else mention it, so it’s probably just me.

Each of our heroes gets plenty of screen time and fight scenes.  For the first half of the movie they are fighting each other more than the bad guys.  Once they finally all come together and face off against the alien force at the end, it’s nothing but a huge free for all.  I never really felt like the world was in danger from this threat but New York was.  Apparently you shouldn’t live in New York because it’s always under attack by super villains in the movies!

It’s during the last third of the movie that the Hulk really steals the show.  Everyone loved this character and his use as comic relief.  It surprises me that Marvel hasn’t already put the Hulk 2 into production.  Perhaps they will soon.  After the credits we get a hint at who the bad guy in the next one will be, and he is a big one.  For people who don’t follow the comic books and were wondering who “the purple guy” was, his name is Thanos and he is a major threat to anyone.  Thanos is a guy who can beat even powerful beings like Thor or the Silver Surfer in a one on one fight.

Like I said before, The Avengers is a big, fun, popcorn flick and there is nothing wrong with that.  I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

The Walking Dead Season 2 E8: Nebraska



If you have not read my review for episode 7 from this season, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 2 E7: Pretty Much Dead Already

This episode opens immediately where the last one left off.  Rick lowers his gun and looks at what was once Sophia’s body.  Beth runs over to see the body of her mother and is attacked by her.  Beth is saved by the group and an argument breaks out between Shane and Hershel.  Shane thinks Hershel knew Sophia was in the barn all along.  Hershel says Otis was the one who put her in the barn and he knew nothing about it.  Hershel says he wants everyone off of his land which causes Shane and Rick to get into it over how all of this was handled.

Glenn and Maggie have a conversation about the group moving on.  Glenn doesn’t seem to really understand why Maggie is so upset.  Carl tells Lori that Rick did the right thing by shooting Sophia.  His environment is hardening him.  The survivors decide to bury the walkers who used to be loved ones and burn the rest since there are so many of them.  Rick starts to question the decisions he has made.  He risked everyone’s lives out looking for Sophia when she was there on the farm all along (though he can’t be blamed for that since no one knew).

Shane argues and mocks Dale while Dale simply stands there and says nothing in return.  Dale doesn’t even have to say anything, Shane just keeps justifying himself like he already knows what Dale would have said anyway.  Carol gets a little time to go through her feelings.  She knows that Sophia died right away and didn’t suffer out in the woods.  She didn’t starve or spend nights alone being scared.  Maggie attempts to talk to Glenn again about staying if they group leaves just as her sister Beth collapses on the floor.  Needing medical attention, they try to locate Hershel but he is no where to be found.

Putting two and two together, they figure out Hershel is probably at the town bar.  Lori doesn’t want Rick out solving everyone else’s problems but he tells her they need Hershel for the baby.  Rick and Glenn head out and on the way to town they discuss Glenn’s relationship with Maggie.  Meanwhile, Dale tells Lori just how dangerous Shane can be and how he is a ticking time bomb.  Lori attempts to get Daryl to go to town and find Rick but he says it’s not his problem.

Rick and Glenn arrive in town to find Hershel exactly where they figured he would be.  Hershel feels like a fool because he thought the walkers were still alive.  Rick tells him there is nothing wrong with having hope and they discuss life and what kind of future their loved ones can have in this world.  Lori, being stupid as always, decides to go to town and find Rick…because if he is in a bad situation he can’t handle, somehow she will be able to save him having zero fighting ability or skills.  While not paying attention, she hits a walker and flips her car over.  I won’t make any jokes about female drivers here lol

Back at the bar, two men come inside (Dave & Tony).  They seem pretty untrustworthy after a short conversation.  They want Rick to take them back to the farm but he isn’t having any of it.  They end up having a shootout and Rick kills both of them before they have a chance to shoot him.  This is one of the coolest scenes in the show so far and shows just how dangerous Rick can be if he is pushed.  This episode ends back at the farm with several of the survivors burning walker bodies.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Iron Man To Face The Ten Rings In Sequel

Remember when Tony Stark was captured by the terrorist group in the first Iron Man movie?  Well it looks like they are back.  A photo of the crew’s production hat has been released and it has the logo for The 10 Rings on it.  Also at the San Diego Comic-Con, Ben Kingsley was shown wearing rings on his fingers in character as The Mandarin.  It’s kind of a cool idea to bring those bad guys back since they did take the time to build them up previous.



Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey New Poster




New Line Cinema and MGM have released the new poster for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, opening on December 14.  This one features Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins.  It has been revealed that The Hobbit will be a trilogy like the original Lord of the Rings series.

Thor: The Dark World Adds New Cast Members



Richard Brake and Clive Russell have been added to the cast of Thor: The Dark World.  Brake (Joe Chill from Batman Begins) will play a Captain in the Einherjar, an army of elite warriors assembled by Odin to protect Asgard.  Russell will portray Tyr, the God of War.  Tyr is another son of Odin and is Thor’s brother.  Tyr is jealous of Thor because he took his place as the defender of Asgard.  It sounds like Thor should never trust his brothers!

First Official Photo of Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine



He looks pretty much like he always does except if you look closely, I think he has a beard now, instead of his famous sideburns.  I hope this movie is much better than X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Hugh Jackman has always done a great job as Wolverine but much of the material he has been given to work with has been average at best.

Directed by James Mangold, the film stars Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Brian Tee.  It’s based on the famous comic arc in The Wolverine, where Logan is in Japan and the villain is expected to be the Silver Samurai.  Coming to theaters on July 26, 2013