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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra wasn't that impressive, although it wasn't that disappointing, either. Obviously, if I'm to go into detail, there will be some spoilers here and there. That's life.
Overall, The Rise of Cobra was a movie with lots of explosions, "cool" stuff, and hot chicks. However, it was suppose to be a G.I. Joe movie, not G.I. Joe-ish. It's odd, because I'm still trying to figure out where the fault is at, since the cast was good at what they were given, but the movie didn't connect with me.
Now that's odd, since I've been a G.I. Joe fan since before elementary school, it and D & D are tired with being my earliest geekisms, right behind Star Wars. But, this movie wasn't aimed at G.I. Joe fans, instead I think it was meant to catch those fans in the crossfire while it was aimed at the general public.
If they would have titled this as anything other than G.I. Joe, I'd say it was a modest Summer flick with some good blockbuster potential. The action was okay, especially the ninja stuff, and the techie toys were okay, too. Yet, this was suppose to be the origins of Cobra splashed across the screen in their first outing against G.I. Joe, which could have been epic, instead it's a sparkler that should have been ground blooming flower. More flash and fizzle than excitement and flash.
As a G.I. Joe fan I knew there were going to be some changes, most of which didn't bother me as I could care less about the globalization of things, or Ripcord being African-American for no reason. In fact, I was okay with it and Marlon Wayans performance wasn't half-bad. Heck, many of the performances weren't half-bad, nor the plot, yet the backstory is where I started to get irked. Sure, they had to modernize it a bit, twist things to fit more into what was on the screen, but they still screwed things up.
The flashback stuff got to be more overused than it was in Highlander, television or movies, and that's saying something. But, with only a couple of exceptions, it was all poorly done and detracted more than it added to the movie. Plus, having the fund between Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow start when they were tweens is pathetic, almost as pathetic as making Cobra Commander and the Baroness siblings with Duke as the boyfriend who let the brother "die."
By the way, speaking of lame changes to character stories and back-stories: The tragic love of Scarlett and Snake-Eyes is one of the coolest things from the G.I. Joe comics, thus why it was lame in the cartoons to make it Duke and Scarlett. Also, Destro and the Baroness should not be some creepy techno date rape gone weird, either. I'm sure the folks behind the movie didn't want to have their actors work beyond their range...oh, wait, they had actors full of range!
Also, if you're going to subtitled the movie 'The Rise of Cobra' then Cobra had best rise during the movie and not just get slapped down in what was obviously a movie whose only purpose was to seed interest in a sequel. While the uniforms slowly start to get more Cobra like, as well as the famous symbol appearing new the end of the movie, it's fairly sad that we only see what passes for Cobra for a handful of minutes before they're taken out and down and jailed.
Yes, everyone can see how they'd be out and released by the next movie, thanks to the so-called twist in the movie, but even that was poorly handled. Hopefully Vosloo got a nice paycheck for the movie, as it didn't help his career that much.
I've heard that there are critics out there that seem to feel that if you didn't enjoy the movie then you just weren't getting what the movie was made for and to them I just say, "B.S."
Seriously, I'm the guy who should be salivating for this movie, for the characters in it, and clamoring for a sequel, but I'm not. While I'm sure someone out there is going to blame Marlon Wayans for this, just like they did with the Dungeons & Dragons movie, please don't...he did an okay job with what he was given, just like the D & D movie. But, to those who are at fault for this, will you please stay away from my childhood and stop peeing in my cornflakes.
First off, fair warning, I'm about to be a salivating fanboy for the course of this and unashamedly so, too. There are potentially going to be spoilers littered throughout the article, as should be expected when talking about a movie that has been seen several times since the opening, last week.
If you have not seen Star Trek, also known as Star Trek XI, and do not wish to see spoilers than I suggest you do not go past this sentence; it's your fault, not mine, if you read past this point.
Okay, now that that is out of the way, on to my salivation and blathering on about how J.J. Abrams has a lot of intestinal fortitude for what he decided to do with the Star Trek franchise, as well as how, in my opinion, respectful he was toward it, too.
J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtsman have taken the multi-verse concept, a concept that has been touched upon, several times, in the Star Trek franchise and ran in for a 97-yard touchdown. Now it's not perfect, not that awe-inspiring 100 yard touchdown that we see in movies, as well as some freaky and weird games (I mean American Football, by the way), but the very close to perfect version.
Star Trek, as it should be called since Star Trek XI implies that it is a continuation of the movie franchise, instead of a branching of it, is a fine movie that should be one of the biggest movies of Summer 2009. It is also, in my opinion, a film that surpasses the budget of Star Trek II: The Wraith of Khan, yet only just equals the story and quality of it.
Abrams and his cohorts have given us a reboot that is faithful to the material, respectful of those who have come before it, yet has given us a whole new sandbox to see that universe in, all while having a beautiful moment where torches were passed.
The concept of the muti-verse, both in fiction and conceptual reality, is that for every choice that is made, for everything that is done or not done, there is a universe, a reality, where that moment happened or didn't happen and it plays out from there. There are an infinite number of realities, as there are an infinite number of possibilities, in fact there is a concept in Star Trek known as IDIC, which is Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations, that puts the concept down, years and years before the concept was investigate much. Sure, IDIC was more about racial equality and the vastness of sentience in the universe, as well as a cool Vulcan thing, yet it is also a gate to the concept of understanding a multi-verse, too.
We're now at a point where we will be seeing new stories of Star Trek, with different actors in familiar roles, with the technology updated, yet it all makes sense, because we know it's in a different timeline of Star Trek. The timeline that we've known, that we've followed, is not gone, it's just not the one we're seeing on the screen right now.
It is still out there, in novels, in comic books, and video games, but, for now, we're following a new timeline and it looks to tell an awesome story. We're seeing our favorite characters, pure in concept and portrayal, yet in different stories, in different defining arcs, that softens the blow of seeing someone else play James T. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the Crew of the Starship Enterprise.
Because of a psychopathic, yet sympathetic madman, a Romulan named Nero, the universe of Abram's Star Trek split off from the main timeline at the time of Jim Kirk's birth, which speed up the technological development of various aspect of the universe, due to strife caused from the ships presence around various sectors of the galaxy.
Kirk joins Starfleet late, but does so under stressful and impressive enough circumstances that he pole vaults his career forward, by the end of the movie, by several years. Spock's life takes several drastic changes, changes that seem to leave us with a Spock who is more like himself from the Pike era, as well as the movie era, of Star Trek and less like he was in the Original Series. We're also left with a universe whose Vulcans are so few and now, whether they know it or not, being influenced by an elder Spock, from the main timeline, who is something of a visionary and inspiring activist.
While I cannot say Star Trek was perfect, I will say that it is so close as to not truly matter whether it is not perfect. The cast was, is phenomenal and we are seeing a Star Trek whose current gross, within a week, is almost double that of the prior Star Trek movie. We are seeing a Star Trek do what all experts said, prior to it, could not be done, which is revitalize a franchise that, just a year or so ago, was thought to be dead.
Star Trek is an awesome movie, for those who are fans, but also for those who have either never seen or never wanted to see Star Trek before. It is so interesting to see how many people came to Star Trek this past week, saying they were not fans, yet are now fans. It's just that cool of a movie and I'm still excited about it.
There is one thing that has always bothered me, irked me to no end, with respect to the various networks and choices that are made about programming and finales of shows; if you're gonna end a show and you know it, please don't end the season on a cliff hanger and don't pretend like you don't know you're gonna end a show.
Truly, nothing bothers me more than a show being left on a cliffhanger forever, as it is just annoying and disrespectful to the viewers of a particular show. Sure, the show is being canceled due to low ratings, however networks should still be respectful of the viewers that they did earn, instead of punishing them for a lack of being able to punish the non-viewers.
Cliffhanger finales should be left for shows that are being renewed, as it builds up conversation about a show, all the speculation about what will happen, while the show is in reruns or, as is common today, letting another show use its time slot. Many people remember the cliffhanger that was Captain Picard being turned into a Borg, it was an awesome build up to what followed and left people wondering what was gonna happen next.
But, when a show is gonna be canceled, or is on the cusp of being canceled, networks should not be jerkish to their viewers and let a show cliffhanger into infinity. It isn't that hard, or it doesn't appear to be that hard, to give a season a soft closure moment, just in case the show is canceled.
Look at NBC's Life, it was given a soft closure, that was easier to transmute into a full and firm closure, due to the show being on the cusp of cancellation. As NBC said on May 4th, Life was canceled, yet while the audience is disappointed, I know I am disappointed, there was still a sense of closure for the story and characters of that show. Heck, the closing moments, for me, with Cruise and Reese looking at each other while the voice over helped drive the point home was a solid point, I even told a friend that I could see them ending the arc, let alone the series, on that note.
Life on Mars did it right, too, as ABC gave the audience closure, instead of leaving them guessing what was happening, what the truth was, and what was coming next. Chuck left the season with a cliffhanger, but it, too, was a soft closure moment, where the series could have ended on a good note. Sure, Chuck was renewed, thus giving us more stories and a lot of potential for coming arcs, but it was easy to think of it as closure, too.
But, shows like Threshold and Surface, to name a few, are left in unanswered cliffhangers, forever.
I think networks are getting the clue, though, especially after leaving a show like Jericho in cliffhanger, at least until the fans revolted and got the more endcaped second season. The networks seem to be focusing on shows that can be either in a short cycle, ala British Television, or producing proper endings to a show that is not going to be renewed.
We'll see, though, if this is truly a trend or if the networks are going to slide back into the habit of just holding out until a show is over to cancel, so as to not lose, in their minds, more ad dollars. Hopefully, though, they'll focus on the viewers who were loyal to the show, to the bitter end, and give the audience what they want and deserve...closure.
Now I'll fully admit, I like watching Nathan Fillion on the screen, big or small, so my liking this show should come as no surprise, since it show cases Fillion's talent and adds to it. But, it's not just Fillion, Stana Katic does a damn fine job, too. In their respective roles, as novelist Richard Castle and Detective Kate Beckett, we get an interesting chemistry between the two, which starts out more terse and grows into a respect. Now it might seem formulaic, in that you expect the two of them to grow interested in one and other, but I don't think, not fully at least, that that is the lesson we're going to see here.
See, both Castle and Beckett started out underestimating each other, with Castle just seeing Beckett as hot "lady cop" and Beckett seeing Castle as this lascivious hack, but then they look beyond the surface and see more than what they first judged each other about. In fact, it seems to be a double wordplay, in that the show is about looking beyond the cover of a book
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Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler is a fine movie for more reasons than I think I am capable of verbalizing, but that's not gonna keep me from trying.
As with many of my "reviews", I'm not really going to cover plot points and spoilers, but more empathic content of the movie. In my view, movies aren't purely about entertainment, although it is a big part of it, but also about what you think and feel about it after words. Does it inspire you to see things different, understand something deeper, make you wanna be a better person, or maybe even be a lesser person
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Science Fiction and Fantasy is a cornerstone of my entertainment venues, be it print or video, and Doctor Who has been a staple of enjoyment for me since well before the current era of the series. So, it should be sort of surprising that up until last week I had not seen an episode of BBC Wales' Torchwood.
Odd, huh
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What is it about television executives that makes it a surprise when a solid show like Leverage, Tuesday on TNT, is renewed? Why are we the viewers so accustomed to pessimism, with respect to new shows? Is it because of shows like Firefly, an instant cult classic, with modest theatrical numbers with Serenity, were killed so ruthlessly that we dare not hope?
It is so odd, in my opinion, that I am not only the target market for most television, but that I am also, quite often, disappointed when the network kills a good show, yet strings along a mediocre show, simply because the former challenges the viewer while the later expects little of the viewer. Look at how much of a percentage of airtime goes to reality-based programming, although I should be quotes around reality since people act to a character on those shows, too
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Now I have been a fan of 24 since its inception, as I enjoy the action sub-genre of military and espionage super heroics, even with the anti-hero realism and potential realism of Jack Bauer's extremes. But, I will say that the last couple of seasons, five and six, were not at the pinnacle of the series' potential and this is after performing a marathon of Season Five and Six over the past few months before moving on to Season Seven. 24: Redemption was an okay prologue, it added the groundwork for this change in the series.
Now, at this point, fair warning that there will be some spoilers if you have not watched the first four hours of Season Seven of 24, if you continue past this point, right here, any spoilers are your own fault and I do not want to hear about it
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Now I avoided the whole battle between HD DVD and Blu-Ray, as I figured it would be best, for me, if I just waited and saw who one before I made the movie to adapt myself. Now this is a rarity for me, as I am normally an early adopter, but, for once, I held off on things.
Recently, though, I made the plunge and bought an 80 GB PlayStation 3, a choice that I whole heartedly enjoyed and that I am enjoying. In addition to being a nice game console, it is also an awesome DVD player replacement. While I have quite a few Blu-Ray discs on order, I purchased Wall-E as my first movie and it was the right choice, I think
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Now it should come as no surprise to most folk, given the prevalence of role-playing games in nerd culture, but I'm a lifelong gamer and I've been throwing dice at the table since the ripe old age of six. Yeap, you read that correctly, I started playing Basic Dungeons and Dragons when I was six years old, thanks to a very open minded mother taking a different route when a school counselor suggested she find me a creative hobby. Seriously, everyone was suggesting the accordion and, trust me, I've enough misplaced aggression issues, as is, without that added onto the bonfire of rage.
*grins
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Comment by Robert N Emerson
on Fringe in Oz - Why so ignored?
Film Mage
Also, it is less Alias-y and more like Lost, in that the heroine is not unbeatable, nor are the others in the "group" who are sorta tossed together by fate, and that you are discovering the mystery along with them.
Anna is attractive, that is true, and she does an okay job at being an government agent, too. It does need some build up, that's for sure, and the pilot needs some follow up, for sure. I think we'll know if it is solid or not by about Episode 4-5 range, if not a smite sooner.