Top Ten Comic Book Movies

Now keep in mind this is a COMIC BOOK MOVIE list, not a full out superhero list, so yes a few "serious" CBMs may appear on this list. Also remember that this is subjective and only opinion, so I'm not saying "This list is right and all others are wrong, and if you don't agree than you're stupid" I'm just stating my own personal favorite movies of this category. I'm positive that people will disagree so if you do you're more than welcome to state your own opinion on the matter you are more than welcome to do it in the comments section, I'd love to hear what you think about. So now that that's out of the way and no feelings will be hurt here is my list for best comic book movie.

10. Spider-man 2
Sam Raimi was able to bring the web slinger to life with 2002s Spider-man, but it was in 2004 when he really got it right. Spider-man 2 Brought a new sense of humor and depth to the character that the original only touched upon. Not only that, but it also gave us some of the best action scenes in comic book movies to date, mainly due to the villain in this go around being the four mechanical armed foe Doctor Octopus. It had a great balance of action, emotion, and comedy. Plus it wasn't dragged down by an origin story this time. all of these things put together made, in my opinion, the best Spider-man movie so far. 
9. Batman
The original movie about The Dark Knight, Batman brought a darker look to CBMs that no other mainstream movie had really done before it. This was Burtons' second film and he was still able to dazzle audiences with his story of The Bat verses The Joker. It's interesting how Burton always seemed to focus on the villains story rather than Batmans' but it worked in this first installment (not so much the second). Although he does give off the vibe that he kind of doesn't care about Batman so much as he does about The Joker. Also this features the best Batman to grace the silver screen, Michael Keaton. It was the first of the most successful CBM series, and the best was yet to come.
8. Superman
When most fanboys and fangirls think of the original comic book movie most think of 1978s Superman. The tagline was "You'll believe a man can fly" and boy was that right. It brought Superman and superheroes back to the forefront of media and became an instant classic. Much of it has to do with the casting of Christopher Reeve, who I consider to this day, much like Keaton to Batman, to be the greatest actor to portray the character.

7. Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Ever since the T.V. show Spaced I've been a fan of Edgar Wright. His comedies are some of the best of all time and he has proven time and time again what fantastic writer and director he is. It only made sense that he would be called in to helm a comic book movie at some point in his career, and that happened with Scott Pilgrim. This film did things that others wouldn't dare being that it's pretty damn risky to have such a visually active movie. Putting up sound bubbles with the word POW when someone gets hit, or having a "pee meter" are things you don't normally see in movies, not even comic book movies, but he took a chance and ended up with a visually stunning and unbelievable smart and witty movie.
6. Sin City
Another visually risky movie, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, with a little help from Tarantino, were able to literally bring the page to life with Sin City. The idea to do the film completely in front of a green screen would, until then, usually be a big mistake. However that combined with the use of black and white are what make this violent gritty anthology film one of the best. It also doesn't hurt that it had one of the best casts for a film in recent years.
5. Watchmen
There are many people divided on this film for not being 100% the same to the original graphic novel. Me, I was surprised and happy with just 90% and that's what I got. Yes, the ending isn't the same and doesn't make sense if you take into account Bubastas showing up, Rorschach's mask, and it just being kinda stupid. But I was able to look past it being that a giant squid would be difficult to translate to film. Not to mention the rest of the movie was all pretty much word for word and visually the same as the graphic novel. Now I'd say the "Ultimate DVD" version is the best with the added scenes, especially Hollis Mason's death which in my opinion is one of the best in the film, and the Curse of the Black Freighter cartoon. It was the closest thing to a perfect Watchmen movie we could ever hope to get, and it pretty much is near perfect.

4. The Avengers
This is the big one for all the Marvel fans and it was glorious. Anything that you wanted to see in this film, it delivered. Hulk vs Thor, Iron man vs Cap, Cap vs Thor vs Iron man, Black Widow vs Hawkeye, Loki vs everyone, Nick Fury vs stupid ass decisions IT WAS AWESOME... So why than isn't it higher on the list? Well, yes all of the action in the movie was dynamic and amazing and yes the chemistry between everyone was right on the money as well as their attitudes toward each other and their motivations, but what this movie lacks is what everyone says it lacks, a more interesting story. I'm not saying that it's a bad story, I'm just saying that it leaves one wanting. And that's basically the reason it isn't able to hit number one on the list for me.
3. Iron Man
Wait... Iron man is higher than Avengers???? ARE YOU INSANE?? Just hear me out on this one. Iron man is a damn near perfect super hero movie with unbelievable character development, a brilliantly driven plot, spot on acting, and wonderful directing. If you doubt this, I'd like you to, for a moment, think of the character of Yinsen. He is in the movie for probably about 20 minutes consecutively, and yet in that small time period he becomes a fully developed character that we come to know and actually care about what happens to him. They do this so that we can understand why Tony decides to completely turn his life around. Yinsen is a pivotal character and even though we only see him for a short period of time, he has a huge impact on the story and the audience. The transformation of Tony is completely well done too. From the moment we see him gambling away his money and being a careless snarky selfish human being, to the final scene where he practically sacrifices himself, he goes through a transformation and that can't be said for some superheroes who have their own movie as well. *coughCaptainAmericacough*
2. Road to Perdition
Again, this is a comic book movie list, not just a superhero movie list. I've only recently had the pleasure of viewing this highly under rated and beautifully crafted film. I haven't read the source material, admittedly, but I'm definity going to try to get my hands on a copy because if it is anything at all like the movie than I know I'll love it. This film is a very different kind of gangster film than what most are used to and that may the reason it was never fully recognized when it was released. This was also the follow up film for Sam Mendes to his Oscar winning first film American Beauty which is also an inspired work. Road to Perdition is a stunning film with an amazing story of a father and son and is well worth checking out if you haven't already.

1. The Dark Knight
Yes this is an obvious choice and I was considering putting Road to Perdition at number one, but I decided that this film exhibits everything that a comic book movie should have. This is Chris Nolan's masterpiece and it can be put up with any classic film and be argued to deserve to be in the same category as them. This movie brings up themes that no other CBM has before it. Themes of what the act of chaos brings out in everyday people, how a decent man can brought down, how one person can completely drive a city into madness with some barrels of gasoline and a couple of bullets, and the most important theme that more superhero movies should have, would the villain even exist if the hero never decided to put on the cape and cowl? All of this plus an extremely well executed story and directing style. Not to mention the award winning performance by Heath Ledger of the Joker, the best performance of the character, I might add, on the silver screen. It is the ultimate CBM, and there is a reason that most people put this at the top of their list, because it's simply that best.

Reruns: Lost

It's that time again to revisit old favorites and reopen old wounds in this installment of Reruns. This time we will be taking a look at one of the biggest phenomenons of it's time. I am of course talking about the ABC series Lost.

Lost started off in 2004 and went for six seasons until its finale in 2010. It was created by J.J Abrams, Jeffery Lieber, and Damon Lindelof. The series centers on a group of people on a flight who crash land on a very mysterious and seemingly magical island located way off  course from where they were going. It eventually becomes way more complicated than just trying to find a way off the island, but we'll get to all the very strange things that are involved in Lost in just a moment. First, we're going to talk about the most important part of the series, it's characters.

The series starts off with fourteen core characters in the forms Locke (Terry O' Quinn), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Hurley/ Hugo (Jorge Garcia), Charlie (Dominic Monaghan), Claire (Emilie de Ravin), Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Shannon (Maggie Grace), Boone (Ian Somerhalder), Michael (Harold Perrineau), Walt (Malcom David Kelly), Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), Sun (Yunjin Kim), and last and least Jack (Matthew Fox).

The real "lead" of the show is Jack Shepard, a "brilliant" neurosurgeon with daddy issues and a leader complex. He is basically the reason for all of the problems that ruin the lives of these characters. If you can't tell by now, I hate, I Hate, I HATE, JACK SHEPARD. He's easily the worst part of the series. Matthew Fox brings absolutely nothing to the table as far as his acting ability and Jack is really just an asshole. Every time something goes wrong, every time it's so obvious that he should listen to Locke or one of the other survivors it's always Jack's fault. The out come of the character in the penultimate episode of the series is even more insulting to the audience as it pits Locke and Jack against each other in a brawl, in which the audience is supposed to be rooting for Jack this entire time. I found myself actually rooting for the villain, even if it wasn't really Locke any more; Although even with the knowledge that it wasn't Locke I still preferred The Man in Black's character over Jack.

The show's character's are what drives it, not the story, mostly because the story gets way too congested and nonsensical eventually. However, most of these characters aren't truly engaging. The only interesting characters in the show's run are Locke, Sawyer, Jin, Sun, Desmond, Hurley, Ben, Mr. Echo, Ana Lucia, and at times Kate. Out of a cast that eventually reached about 40 character all of which could be considered to be leads, to only have 10 characters actually be interesting is a big let down, especially because a few of the aforementioned characters get killed off relatively quickly.

The entire arc of the show is about all of these castaways trying to get off of this mysterious island while learning about all of the strange things going on around them. The series starts off pretty strong, setting up each character nicely and just giving a bit of information about them. Each episode is primarily about one character, showing them on the island along with flashbacks about their lives before the flight. As the series goes on themes of fate and hope are brought up constantly. The castaways eventually realize that they are each connected with the island because of the character of Jacob, who for the first four seasons, and most of the fifth, is only talked about and never shown. The best episodes are pretty much the ones that are about the good characters so any episode with a story about one of the characters that I mentioned were interesting are the best ones, particularly the Hurley and Locke episodes. Hurley's episodes are usually very funny while Locke's episodes are so very sad but engaging.

The biggest problem with the series is that it doesn't know where it's going to end up when it starts. It is very apparent that the writers had absolutely no idea what the island was going to end up being. So by the time season five rolled around there was a major drop in quality. I'd say that the fifth season is at least watchable with a few good episodes in there, but season six is almost unwatchable. One reason that the show dropped in quality could be because of the exit of producer and story editor Brian K. Vaughn. Vaughn is also well known as a comic book writer as well. He left the show after season five, and the quality in writing really went down when he left. The writers ended up leaving the show ambiguous, which isn't usually a bad thing but it is used here as a cop out simply because they didn't know where to go with the story. Basically no questions were answered that really mattered and it's almost a slap in the face to all the loyal fans that watched for so many years.

As a whole, Lost is just okay. Maybe a bit above average. I won't deny that when it was on T.V. it was a big phenomenon and you didn't want to be the person to miss an episode. The first four seasons of it really are great and engaging with some great story lines, but once season five comes around it is apparent that the writers really had no idea where this was going to end up and tried desperately to dig themselves out a hole, with the result being very unsatisfying. Thankfully after many failures, television shows trying to copy this style of bringing up questions to keep the audience coming back to see them get answered has for the most part died with Lost, and even though I rag on the bad parts there are some truly great T.V. moments in the series that are worth the watch. Just skip season six, it's not worth it.

Thank you for joining me once again for another segment of Reruns. On the next installment, we'll discover exactly what makes a Milford man, find out that there is always money in the banana stand, and see just how many gay references Tobias Funke can make in just one episode.  

The Cinema Lounge: Evil Dead

 Remakes are usually very under whelming. The big trend now that seems to have been going on for a century is to remake movies, particularly horror movies. Now some of them can be good, I'll admit. Though it was no where near the original, the Halloween remake was decent enough, as were the two Romero remakes Dawn of the Dead and The Crazies. But most of the time producers give us unimaginative garbage that is either complete garbage or a total unoriginal rehash of the original that begs questions like, "Did we really need a remake of Nightmare on Elm Street?" So naturally when news broke that there was going to be a remake made of The Evil Dead my immediate response was, really? You're gonna try and remake one of the biggest cult horror movies and try to get away with it? Pssh, good luck with that. And as the hype grew and more and more information about the film was released I actually began to become intreagued with this film. For one thing, Raimi and Campbell were producing which was a big sign to the fans of the original. Also, the new director Fede Alvarez had some hype behind him as well. This was his first feature but he has a good number of pretty damn good short films under his belt. I really started to get excited about it when I heard that it was brought to the MPAA for a rating and right off the bat it got slapped with the dreaded NC-17, which for this film they were apparently very proud of. It was brought down to an R rating with some editing though, but a hard R at that.After all of this hype and news about the film I did get a bit more excited for it but I was still on the fence about it. That is, until I saw the red band trailer and by god was that a glorious way to draw in movie goers, spotlighting the films more serious tone compared to the original and more realistic gore.

As I've said the film is directed by new comer Fede Alvarez and produced by Sam Raimi, director of the original series, and Bruce Campbell, the king of all things B-movie and star of the original series. The movie stars a young up and coming cast of actors in the forms of Jane Levy as Mia, Shiloh Fernandez as David, Lou Taylor Pucci as Eric, Jessica Lucas as Olivia, and Elizabeth Blackmore as Natalie. All of these characters do have connections with each other but they are never fleshed out all that well or they are with very bad exposition. And that is the biggest flaw of this remake, the writing.

The film starts off much like the original with five friends going to a cabin in the woods to have a fun time and to help their friend Mia kick a drug addiction. The first twenty minutes is all terribly forced exposition about the character's past relationships, mainly focusing on that of Mia and David, two estranged siblings who haven't seen each other in quite sometime, or at least I think that's the relationship shared between the two because it is never fully developed or even all that good. The rest of the cast are just kind of there for the most part except for Eric who has the best lines of the piece and is the one responsible for the whole thing happening because he thinks it's a good idea to read from a book that was found in the creepy basement of the cabin in a room where dead animals are hanging from the ceiling, is wrapped up in barbed wire, is bound in human skin, and that displays multiple notes throughout it that says DO NOT READ THIS BOOK ALOUD OR SHIT'S GONNA GO DOWN essentially. The others aren't all that much smarter either, as they all constantly do stupid things that are commonly seen in the horror genre. Although this may actually have been the intention made by Alvarez who also served as one of the writers as well as director on the film. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt but if the writing was done on purpose it does make sense and gives the film a depth of humor that on the surface it is missing.

Besides the writing everything else about the film is pretty damn solid. Alvarez's direction is great. The film is shot very well and the key decision to only use practical effects over CGI was what really makes this movie shine. The gore scenes are spectacular, although they would have been even better if I hadn't seen the trailers for it because they do spoil a lot of the best parts but there are a few choice moments that weren't shown that still would make you cringe, particularly the scenes which include either cutting off or ripping off arms and hands. The film gets so gory and over the top that by the end of the film it literally starts raining blood from the sky. The final "battle" with a chainsaw is also very satisfying. If you have seen the trailers though, each of the scenes in them do have more to them so they weren't completely spoiled but going in fresh would have been a better way to go.

The performances from the cast got the job done and the stand out is definitely Jane Levy. She has the engrossing task of giving a troubled drug addict girl performance one minute, then an Exorcist- like demon performance the next. Lou Taylor Pucci would be the other notable cast member for a darkly humorous role which involves getting injured, a lot. The rest of the cast is unfortunately not all that memorable although the identities of who lives and who dies is a bit unpredictable which is a big plus for the troubled script.

Evil Dead is a good remake of a classic horror gem. The problems really only come from the script which is kind of a big deal but it is possible that it was intentional. This movie is about the experience of watching it, and when characters say or do dumb things it is very enjoyable to her the audience groan or laugh or actually yell at the screen altogether, so even with it's problems they aren't a deal breaker for the movie. The gore scenes are the whole purpose of seeing this and you won't be disappointed. While it doesn't surpass the original, it does entertain in it's own right, and if you're a fan of the originals or classic gory ultra- violent films, than you'll love Evil Dead.

FINAL GRADE: B

The Cinema Lounge: Oz the Great and Powerful

JOKE ABOUT CONFUSING THIS WITH THE HBO SERIES. Now that that's out of the way, Oz the Great and Powerful stars James Franco as the main man himself known as Oz, Mila Kunis as Theodora, Rachael Weisz as Evanora, Michelle Williams as Glinda, Zach Braff as Finley, and Joey King as the China Girl. The movie is directed by Sam Raimi of The Evil Dead and Spider-man series fame and this is his best looking film yet.

I'm gonna start with the positives first because unfortunately there aren't many. The movie looks fantastic, I really love the effects used in this especially for Finley and China Girl. They really look great and seem like they totally belong in the world that they're in. As far as performances go, the voice over work is very very good for the CGI characters. This actually made me kind of like Zach Braff, which is no small feat mind you, and Joey King was perfect for the little China Girl. The live action performances were unfourtunatly not as good as the voice over work but Michelle Williams and Rachael Weisz both do a good job and the scenes with them together are some of the best.

The rest of the film goes downhill from here. The performances from Franco and Kunis are, just, bad. I suppose the characters that they are playing should be a bit over the top but it seems like too much. Franco really hams it up throughout the whole thing, never really letting up, although it does work in a few scenes but only a few. When Oz is putting on his show and is over acting  it makes sense but than he continues to act the same way for the rest of the movie. I really wish Robert Downy Jr. would've played Oz. He was lined up for the job but there was a scheduling conflict with Iron Man 3, so obviously he couldn't do it, but throughout the movie I just kept thinking that it would be so much better if he were in this. Shame.

Mila Kunis' character unfortunately never has a good scene. Ever. At least Franco was able to have two or three good scenes, but Kunis is just horrible in this. It's a shame really because she's proven that she can act. Whenever she's on screen though her performance is just so over the top it's not even funny, just annoying.

As far as the plot goes it is pretty much the same type of story as the original Wizard of Oz but with the wizard himself this time. It has a few twists and turns but they are so predictable. If you remember anything from the original movie than you will see all of the twists coming.

The movie as a whole works as a simple fun family film. As a normal film, it's kind of horrendous. But there definitely are moments in it that were able to recapture the magic that the original captured. This is mainly due to the wonderful effects and voice acting. Unfortunately the movie falls apart at when it comes to the story and acting, save for a few people. If you would like to revisit the world of Oz and really wanna see this than I'd say wait for it to come out on DVD and rent it. Otherwise, you wouldn't be missing much if you don't see this.

FINAL GRADE: C-

Top 10 Films of 2012

Alright, I know I'm kinda late on this list but not that late, I mean the Oscars did just happen. I also have finally seen every movie that has come out worth seeing, took me awhile to see Life of Pi and Cloud Atlas. So with that at of the way here is my list for the Top 10 Films of 2012. I'm going to start off with Honorable Mentions, just listing them in no particular order not going into detail, then I'll get to the list.

Each of these Honorable Mentions are fantastic films and I highly suggest all of them. In no particular order-
Honorable Mentions: Looper, , The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, Men in Black 3, The Woman in Black, 21 Jump Street, The Amazing Spider-man, Ted, The Expendables 2, Seven Psychopaths, Man With The Iron Fists, Les Miserable, Zero Dark Thirty, Chronicle, Dredd, Beasts of the Southern Wild

10.The Cabin in the Woods
Being a horror fan, I always try to see as many horror movie as I can every year. This is by far the one of the best horror movies in the past ten years. It's a movie where you really don't know where its going but when it gets there you are completely satisfied.

 9. Prometheus
This is a story that I have been waiting for since the first time I saw Alien. I've always been a huge fan of the series but there's always been one question, what's the deal with the space jockey? Prometheus answered this question, sort of. It's a great looking film with some very inventive story telling. It didn't drastically change the game but it's a welcome back for Ridley Scott to the genre that started his career.

8. Life of Pi
Took me awhile to see this one but I'm extremely glad I did. It's a beautifully crafted film with a heartwarming inspirational story and effects that look amazing. Going into it I wasn't sure if I was gonna like it but I'm very glad I took the chance on this. The only thing bringing this down is the ending which many people have complained about, but it wasn't that bad and I think it worked.

 7. Silver Linings Playbook
Defiantly had one of the best casts of the year and also a very well written film. The film also really shows the things that people who are bipolar go through and it does it very well. It was really great to see DeNiro in a good movie for once as well and he would have been well deserving of an Oscar for his performance.

6. Moonrise Kingdom
This is the film that got me into Wes Anderson and I'm extremely glad it did. It's a fun quirky comedy that also has the best script of the year, besides Django. After seeing this I watched all of Anderson's films and this easily sits as one of his best. I'd say its second only to The Royal Tenenbaums.

5. The Avengers
What can I say about this one. It was everything I had hoped for and more. The hype behind this one was so huge and it delivered on all aspects. The cast was amazing together, the story worked, it was fantastically shot, and it was filled with bad ass moments that a comic book movie fan would expect from this film. To me, this was the best comic book film of the year and delivered on things that fans were looking for, unlike some other comic book movies that came out this year that have the initails TDKR.

4. Cloud Atlas
This was another one that took me awhile to see but again I'm so happy I did. This was the must see movie of the year for the sheer scope and approach of it. This left many critics divided with some hating it and others adoring it. Obviously I'm on the latter's side. I've been waiting for a film like this to happen for a long time. I just love the idea of a genre crossing anthology type movie, and the idea for using the actors as different characters in the stories was genius, I think it really works. It looks stunningly beautiful and it's definitely the Wachowski's best film to date.  

3. Django Unchained
It was inevitable that the new Tarantino flick would find it's way onto my list being that I've loved everything the man has made so far. While Django isn't his best it is still a step above everyone else and that's what's great about Tarantino. His worst film could be considered someone elses best. This is one that you can really tell he's been wanting to make for a long time being that he is such a fan of spaghetti westerns, and his love for them really shines through. Its a very fun and well made film. If you are a Tarantino fan, you won't be disappointed.

 2. Lincoln
It's a bit surprising even to me that this isn't my number one pick because it is Spielberg at his best. This is another one that I was destined to love right from the start simply because it's Spielberg. His ability to capture a character's essence shines through in this love letter to his hero Abraham Lincoln. The decision to focus on just the one moment in time of the mans life really works and the decision to cast the great Daniel Day-Lewis as the man himself was also a brilliant move. It's been great to see Steven Spielberg bounce back from Indiana Jones 4 and the last three years have been very kind for the man putting out two very fine films, War Horse and The Adventures of Tin Tin, and one truly great film in the form of Lincoln.

1. Skyfall
This is the greatest Bond film ever made. Yes, better than Goldfinger. I never thought I'd see the day that a Bond movie would beat out Goldfinger as my favorite, but then I saw Skyfall and it blew me away. The action, the story, the cast, the beautiful cinematography, Sam Mendes's  direction, I mean everything was pitch perfect and this is is also the best performances by both Daniel Craig and Judi Dench of the series. It also has the greatest Bond villain as well in the form of Silva played tremendously by Javier Bardem, who was robbed an Oscar nod for his performance. It also delved way deeper into the Bond character than any other one of the franchise ever has. All of this put together is what makes this not only the best picture of the year, to me, but also the best Bond movie ever.

5 Things Disney Has To Do To Make A Good Star Wars Movie

 I love Star Wars. It's my favorite film series of all time. I even like the prequels... Oh that's right, I said it. Even the prequels. I'm such a Star Wars nerd that I know how many main engines are on a Star Destroyer (it's 3) and I even know what planet Han Solo is from (its Corellia). So as you can imagine when I heard that there was going to be not only a Star Wars VII but stand alone movies about Han, Yoda, and Boba Fett, let's just say I got excited. REALLY EXCITED. Now that's not to say I didn't have reservations about it as well. I knew just how bad these movies could end up being cause we already have had bad Star Wars movies (I know I said I like the prequels but I do realize they suck. They're really guilty pleasures.). There are certain key elements that Disney must include in order to make Star Wars movies that can bring the magic that the originals brought to the big screen. And I'm going to tell you what those elements are. Here are the top 5 things Disney has to do to make a good Star Wars movie, by yours truly.

5. Include characters from the original trilogy: This has kind of been confirmed with the news that Harrison Ford is in talks to come back as Han. All we would need than, obviously, would be Fisher, Hamill, Dee- Williams, and Mayhew. I wouldn't mind seeing Daniels as C3PO and Baker as R2D2 again but in all honesty they don't NEED to be in it. If all these characters come back though, they shouldn't be the focus of the story. They should just be side characters sort of like mentors maybe to the other characters. Now obviously if they decide to put the sons and daughters of these characters in the movies than they would fit into the mentor roles seamlessly, but if the main characters end up being maybe Jedi than Luke would fit nicely into a Yoda- like role with Han and Leia just being allies (I kind of like this angle).

4. Make a movie for both parents and children: The original Star Wars came out almost forty years ago. Most fans of the series are parents by now with kids of their own who probably like the prequels while the parents stand by the originals. Probably the hardest thing this movie has to accomplish is to make a Star Wars that both generations of fans will love. One way of doing this would be to have the story have something to do with the new Jedi order that Luke forms. It would have the best things from both trilogies, good story and plot from the originals and the cool Jedi from the prequels, cause let's face it, that's really all the prequels had going for them.

3.Have ONE main villain for the whole trilogy: A big problem that the prequels have is that they have just too many villains. Yeah their all interesting and cool but it really bogs down the series when you have to introduce a new villain in each movie. It also really lessens the affect of the villain. For example, Count Dooku has a very interesting back story but it's only known to the viewer through dialogue. If Lucas were smarter, Dooku would have been a character in The Phantom Menace so that it could have been a surprise when he went to the dark side. He also would have been a much better and more fleshed out character and foreshadow to Anakin.

2. No Jar Jar: ...Self explanatory.

1. There has to be an actual war happening: It doesn't seem like it should be that big of a thing to bring up but this is one of the big reasons the prequels suck. I mean there isn't a war going on in episodes 1 and 2. No war. In a Star WARS movie. It's right in the fucking title for God's sake and yet Lucas thought it would be best to not have an actual war go on in the first two prequels and instead show a little whinny bitch cry about his bad dreams. Revenge of the Sith got better cause after two whole movies they finally got to the goddamn Clone Wars. It's pretty amazing actually that this point even has to be brought up but there it is. If we had had episodes 1 and 2 actually be about The Clone Wars as a whole the prequels probably would have been a lot better than they were (I can dream).

Well that's my two cents on it. They have a really good team working on episode VII and the stand alone movies that are planned so I'm optimistic. J.J. is a great choice to direct and Michael Arndt has proven that he can write characters and stories very well, and really that's what Star Wars is about. 2015 is a ways off and while I don't exactly know where life might take me by than, I do know that at midnight on it's release date I'll be right in that audience wearing my TIE fighter shirt and waving a lightsaber, ready to once again be taken to a galaxy far far away.

Netflix Reviews: Road To Perdition

 While browsing through Netflix I came across the Sam Mendes page and noticed that he made some films that I hadn't realized he made. Among them were Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, Away We Go, and Road To Perdition. The only things I heard about Road To Perdition before watching it were that it starred Tom Hanks, was based on a graphic novel, and that it was very underrated. I wasn't even aware that Mendes directed it. So I thought what the hell and put it on my queue. Now that I've finally watched it, I can honestly say that it has become one of my favorite movies of all time.

Road To Perdition stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, and Stanley Tucci. Hanks plays a hitman for the mob in the 1930s. His boss, played by Paul Newman, thinks of Hanks like a son, even though he already has a son whose played by Daniel Craig. Hanks' character, Michael, is also married and has two sons. When his oldest son discovers that his dad kills for the mob, Craig's character, Connor, decides that he may tell people about what he saw and goes after Michael's wife and younger son. With the mob on his tail including an assassin, played by Jude Law, Michael tries to stay alive, and will do anything to make sure no harm comes to his son.

Let me start off by saying that film looks absolutely beautiful. This was famed cinematographer Conrad L. Hall's final film before his death in 2003 and it just may be his best work. He also worked on Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, and American Beauty, among other films. One scene in particular is that of one of the final ones in the film with Hanks and Newman in the rain. It's gorgeous and executed brilliantly.

Now I must admit I've only seen one film of Sam Mendes' and that's Skyfall but after watching that it immediately made me a fan of his and this film launched him into my favorites. He does a fantastic job hear, every shot is beautiful and every interaction is gripping. He totally gets the heart of the story and brings it out front and center, the relationships between fathers and sons. And not just between Hanks and his son but also Paul Newman and Daniel Craig. Both pairs start out about the same at the beginning but as the film goes on they become complete foils of each other, mainly Hanks' son and Craig.

Craig is basically what Hanks' son could be depending on what path he chooses to take with his life. Follow in his father's footsteps, or lead a good life away from crime and murder. This is an important point to the film and stays with it throughout all the way up to an ending that could have been ruined easily if Mendes were to let the son do something instead of Hanks. (Trying to keep it as spoiler free as I can.)

The cast is simply spectacular. I love seeing Tom Hanks in more gritty kinds of roles like this and he shines as the lead. Paul Newman is of course brilliant and does a great job as the mob boss. Jude Law plays a different role than his usual mo here as well and he is creepy and intimidating, just as he should be. Daniel Craig plays the scolded son just trying to earn his father's approval very well and shows that even back in 2002 he had amazing acting chops. Tyler Hoechin plays Hanks' son, Michael Jr, and even he does very well here too. The cast as a whole gives an amazing performance.

I'm kind of a sucker for father son stories that include  both a literal journey and metaphorical journey i.e. The Road, and this one is also fully developed and realized. The relationship that evolves between the two is really very touching to watch. The film even manages to bring some humor into it as well when the relationship really starts to bud.

I mentioned this before but the film really reminds me of Shawshank Redemption. Not just in reputation, but in plot and tone. Hell even some shots were almost exact. There's a beach scene that resembles Shawshank in such a way that it made think I knew exactly what was going to happen and yet the film still surprised me.

Road To Perdition is just an amazing film. Everything about it is just damn near perfect. The look, the story, the acting, the themes, even the music all of it just works and fits together so well that it makes a very brilliant and a very different kind of gangster movie. It was totally underrated in it's time and deserved way more nominations, if not awards themselves, then it got. I'm just happy that I got to see it and that this beautiful gem didn't fly under my radar. 

 FINAL GRADE: A+