This final chapter of the 6th Volume of Atomic Robo is cleverly written. Brian Clevinger's writing continues to keep my attention. The dialogue in the final "scenes" of this issue enables the reader to comprehend the weight of Robo's decision. Clevinger manages to keep a text heavy issue fun and also shows how Robo has morally matured since the last volume. Robo is head strong; he knows his goals; and he never questions himself. Clevinger's immense thought and effort are transparent through the dynamic character: Robo.
Scott Wegener gives Atomic Robo life with his art finesse. Robo a robot with no mouth, no nose, and no eyebrows, is brought to life by Mr. Wegener with a variety of emotions on each page. The wonderful (and Canadian) Ronda Pattison takes what could have been a boring and easy issue of greys and blues and creates a scary, cold, and dingy robot hell of varying degrees. I'm a big fan of the way she and Wegener create striking color explosions.
What is behind the hunt for Robo? Who is it? What is it? Why? All of your questions will be satisfied within this issue. Without spoiling this major conclusion, I can tell you that I quite liked the explanation. The issue caps off a grand introduction of something I hope shows up again in the future.
Atomic Robo continues to entertain and I'm always excited to read the comic series. I highly recommend you pick up one of the volumes either digitally or at your local comic shop. You really can't go wrong.
Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X #5 will be available Wednesday February 8th. Go buy it!
]]>"Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, the movie... right?"
That's what I said when we briefly discussed the upcoming Hugh Jackman flick Real Steel on the latest episode of Jay n' J. I mean really, when you look at the trailers and robot heavy marketing of this film, it's clear to see that that is what the marketing team was going for. And while there is definitely a good chunk of fighting robots in this film, like that other robot franchise there is more than meets the eye.
Not that you won't get an eyeful while sitting down to watch Real Steel. CGI sparks and metal fly all over the place is this movie and it looks pretty good. I hope there were some real life robots in this movie too, but honestly I couldn't tell. I'm not sure if that means that the CGI was that good looking or if the real life animatronics were that fake looking, but either way the effects guys for this flick really did a good job of seamlessly blending the two. So big thumbs up there.
I could also give a thumb up to Hugh Jackman and his kid co-star. They both had some great moments together. Moments that seemed more believable than a lot of the scenes Jackman shared with his love interest (and Canadian starlet) Evangeline Lilly. Lilly was good in a couple pivotal moments, but a couple of her monologues just didn't convince me. Jackman however, really seemed to take the Boxing past of his character seriously. He was really good at convaying his love and passion for the sport, as well as his love for his kid. The acting was really better overall than I was expecting from this movie.
The story too, was better than I thought it would be. There is much more of a story line and character arcs then you'd think there'd be in a movie about boxing robots. Jackman's character goes through quite a shift in perspective as the movie progresses and I was really surprised to be rooting for him by the end of the movie. The director did a great job of giving the audience those sweet metal on metal fight scenes, but not focusing on them. In fact I'd say a majority of the fight scenes don't even show you the whole fight, instead choosing to show you the characters reactions and struggles as the fights are going down.
Real Steel was a pleasant surprise for me. I liked it a lot more then I ever thought I would. So if your kids aren't interested in seeing The Ides of March this weekend, maybe you'll want to take them to this instead.
3/5
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]]>The next Catwoman has nothing on Zoe Saldana.
She rises to a new level of female badassness in Colombiana. The film will satify those hungry for action elements with its mist-like stealth, massive explosions, unique hand to hand combat, ample gun fights, violence, and thrilling chase scenes. Miss Saldana earns the spotlight in this action film with an emotional core.
Saldana and Cliff Curtis (who plays Zoe's Uncle) have excellent chemistry while they work through emotion and plot driven scenes. When they talk with each other you can feel the history and weight behind their voices.
The story is a Hamlet type tragedy, with revenge being the key plot point of the whole movie. Saldana's character is out for blood from Jordi Mollà (who plays the villian) and spills it from the word go. She is, after all, a cunning killer.
Saldana carries this film and I would definitely reccomend it to any action movie junkie out there. Now, who wants to help me start a #ZoeSaldana4Catwoman Twitter campaign?
4/5
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]]>The beginning sets the tone.
"F*%$!"
Didn't see that coming?
Neither did I... and that was just The Change Up's first line.
In the first 10 minutes of the film, you know what the ride is going to look like: obscene. The filmmakers give you fair warning too. Ryan Reynolds characters' first words are a string of profanity over a speaker phone. The story does a great job of ridding the Freaky Friday comparison quickly.
I'm sure the adult version of the body swapping Freaky Friday is how it was sold to the studio but The Change Up is so much more than that. It is a hard R comedy wrapped in a story North American working stiffs and bachelors can relate to. Both Bateman and Reynolds do a great job of playing the "Over Achiever" (Jason Bateman) and the "Under Achiever" (Ryan Reynolds) whose friendship has faded.
Both Reynolds and Bateman made a distinct effort to create two characters and play each others characters well. I really hope we see them pushing themselves and having fun in the future (as they were clearly doing in this film).
This movie is definitely worth seeing in the theatre because of the moral heart and laugh out loud hilarity. If you are a fan of bromances like the recent summer comedies The Hangover 2 and Horrible Bosses... see this film. It puts their R rating to shame.
3.5/5
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]]>Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides plays out like a jam packed ETS bus. There are so many people, and things stuffed into it, one can barely see the beautiful landscapes and architecture whizzing by. With some incredibly strange jumps in logic there exists confusing moments in the film.. PotC: OST has a number of things in common with an ETS bus... there's definietly a lot of questionable characters.
Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp both seem to jump back into their banter wonderfully. Understanding that this film is supposed to stand on it's own, away from the original trilogy, I found myself wondering why Geoffrey Rush's character needed to be in it at all. Penélope Cruz as the silver tounged Angelica puts on a fun performance, giving Depp a run for his money in a scene or two. Cruz's character lends credit to the new story vibe of the film, as she is a person from Jack's past. I'm sure we'll all hear people complaining that they miss Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley's characters, but this movie has enough characters as it is.
Pirates Part 4 has a variety of beautiful locations and London seems like a rather odd choice for a Pirates of the CARIBBEAN film to be in. Perhaps they're trying to ditch the Caribbean part and focus more on the Pirate part of the franchise.
With a jumbled script that seems to over explain some things and under explain others, Pirates 4 has trouble before it sets sail. The acting is what you'd expect and the sets & locations are gorgeous as usual. All in all, the film fell very flat for me. Depp shines as usual, but can't save this film.
2/5
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]]>Tommy Tallarico is a rockstar. No doubt about it, the outspoken, never to be out-done, Video Game Music Producer knows how to please his audience. Mr. Tallarico pulls out all the stops (and guitars) during this geeked out game music fest. The Video Games Live concert showed the Jubilee Auditorium more excitement then it has seen in a long time.
Tallarico brought: pianist Martin Leung, famous for his blindfolded playing of the Super Mario Brothers theme; Laura Intravia, who does a wonderful rendition of the Link theme on flute; and Conductor Emmanuel Fratianni, who lead the wonderful Edmonton Symphony.
I had a great time at a wonderful light and video show. My only beef: Where was the Bioware game music? No Mass Effect, no KOTOR, not even a little Jade Empire? I think it would have been great to see a little hometown flavor in the show. After all, Tommy and the gang were in Edmonton, home of the RPG kings, why not give Bioware some love?
While I'm on the subject of missing music, I would have liked to have heard some iOS games. There was a ballad from Shadow of the Colossus, but Video Games Live never swayed too far from the main consoles or classic retro games of old. I guess Video Games Live is more of a Nostalgic look back at game music then a look forward.
My first time at the Video Games Live concert series was enjoyable. A fun experience, that any gamer would love, I highly recommend it to any game fan, young or old, causal or experienced. Tommy Tallarico puts on a show for everyone and even he can't stop grinning by the end of it.
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]]>Walking in a digital wonderland...
Graphically stunning and technically sound, Tron: Legacy will definitely take you to an electronic wonderland of black and neon awesomeness. There are a few good performances and a killer soundtrack by Daft Punk to enjoy. So sit back and enjoy the 20+ years of backstory within a captivating futuristic realm of flying discs.
I caught myself wondering how they pulled the graphics in this film off. "The Grid" is a visually stunning achievment in itself that makes this movie worth seeing. However impressive the graphics in Tron may be, the writing is not.
The Story of Tron: Legacy itself is fairly grand that could have done without the extensive backstory. It was interesting but it didn't help move the story forward. The writers stuffed in comments in between dialogue to try to fill in the gap while telling a story about the here and now. In addition to the backstory, the writers could have written a few scenes with younger/alter ego version of Jeff Bridges character with more emotion. Furthermore, the multiple sit down chats within the film that disrupt the action sequences could also have been written differently.
I would have liked to see more of Michael Sheen in the role his charismatic character played in The Grid. But Michael Sheen wasn't the only shining star in this film. Both Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde put on good performances. The rough spot in the acting department was newcomer Garrett Hedlund. The writing of the lines like "So Cool" and Keanu Reeves-esque "Whoas" did not lend to his rusty performance. Unfortunately, he did not carry the film the way his character was expected to.
Tron: Legacy is a fairly good sequel to a fairly bad movie. You are out of luck if you are expecting a badass sequel. Realize that this is a PG rated Live Action Disney film and you won't be disappointed. Allow the exception graphics and rythmic beats help you escape away into the Tron universe this holiday season.
3.5 / 5
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]]>Temper, temper Ironman, the fat guy from The Hangover only wants to be your friend.
We've all seen the commercials by now ("From the guys that brought you The Hangover") and we've all been sold on the comedy tag team of Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. This movie seems like an easy sell to any comedy fan looking for a laugh, but it packs a pretty strong dramatic punch too. The casting in this movie is top notch, even if all the acting isn't. The comedic timing is solid and there is a ton of shock-comedy to keep you saying "Oh My God" while you're laughing.
The cast is strong in this film. Galifianakis puts on a wonderful act as the over-the-top lovable idiot (and idiot may be putting it mildly.) His character is very similar to the guy he played in The Hangover. I hope Galifianakis finds something different soon, as it's starting to feel like he's being type-casted. I would love to see him in a straight up dramatic role, but his comedy is so spot on that it's hard to see him doing anything else. Robert doesn't exactly slam it home as the short fused jerk with a heart, but he lends his talent in a couple really pivital scenes with Galifianakis. There is a hilarious scene with Danny McBride as a Western Union agent involving some great physical acting from Robert .
The only thing that disappointed me was the adventure the guys took just came off as an updated version of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
Due Date is a fun flick that will keep you laughing, jumping and wondering. I can almost guarantee it will be funnier then Megamind, unless your 10. If you looking to laugh this weekend and you're a fan of R-Rated comedy, be sure to check it out.
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]]>I saw earlier this week, that a critic had called the new Scott Pilgrim film "Twilight for boys". And While I can't comment on Scott Pilgrim as of this posting, what I can say, is that if Scott Pilgrim is "Twilight for Boys", surely, The Expendables is "Twilight for Men".
With a All-Star cast that would have made any Tango & Cash fan blush, The Expendables muscles it's way into the box office this weekend. Though to be honest, I don't think the muscle is as strong as it could have been. For a film the boasts such a stellar cast, some of the top guns see very little action. The much anticipated "Holy Action Film Trinity" scene does pack a pretty good punch.
The story itself is fairly mediocre, and really seems like it required minimal effort on the writers part. The is tons of pretty bad dialogue, but maybe that was on purpose. Jet Li gets a bigger role then I think he needed. Seriously though, the story and writing isn't what anyone is going to go to see this movie for.
Everybody is going to see this movie to see Stallone and his buddies kick some butt. And they most definitely blow stuff up, rumble in the jungle and all that jazz... though it's nothing a seasoned Action Film buff hasn't seen before. I mean sure, you do get to see some of your favorite Action Stars fighting along side and against each other, but in the end there really was no memorable parts that really stuck out for me. I wasn't really reminiscing with my friend after the movie, or talking about my favorite part.
For such a star studded movie, The Expendables really didn't rock as hard as I thought it would. It was definitely more Nickelback then ACDC.
2.5/5
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]]>I hate Inception.
I love Christopher Nolan's work, I love the amazing cast he put together and the phenomenal job they do. I love the cinematography, the lighting, the special effects. I love the haunting score from Hans Zimmer that will make your pulse race; yet I hate Inception.
"Have you ever had a dream ... that you were so sure was real?"
We've all had those dreams. The dreams we swear were real. This is why I hate Inception. The film feeds on this common experience. It poses a question that evokes a feeling of fear. It creeps up on you... penetrating your mind until it has a firm grip and then does not let you go.
Fear. We have MORE than enough of it these days.
You see, one of my worst fears in life is not being able to distinguish dream state from reality. Whether it be falling asleep and never waking... being in a coma I'll never escape from... or being asleep and not knowing it. Philosophers have struggled with the question: "is life an illusion?" since ancient times and Christopher Nolan has brought the common fear inducing question to the screen in a way that has never been done before.
Fear is a powerful thing. The nature of this film is incredibly frightening. Not to mention the use of self directed violence as a solution. The alarming idea makes me strongly disagree with the rating of PG. Self directed violence is never a solution. Period.
While I love Nolan's work and the way he puts together films, this one is too well put together. It leaves me with a sense of unease. Christopher Nolan's Inception is a heavy movie that is not for the faint of heart.
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]]>"How many guys can relate to a movie like this?"
She's out of My League puts a mild mannered hockey geek next to a "hottie" and hopes that the answer to this question is: "a lot." In the same romantic comedy form as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Knocked Up; She's Out of My League paints a funny picture of 'normal' people facing normal problems and it succeeds.
Plot points do not drive this movie engine. While the story is fairly interesting, it isn't anything crazy original because hollywood has shown us the little guy getting the pretty girl before. That being said, the cast uses comedy to drive the film and it works.
There are a couple really hilarious moments. The humor level seems to go up and down, but really lends itself to the story of our not-so-young-anymore airport security officer. Jay Baruchel's character has a lot of hilarious moments with his friends. Krysten Ritter, who plays a best friend to the love interest in the movie, also has a one liner that might make you laugh out loud.
I'm a big fan of Jay Baruchel, and this movie continues to make me a fan. Baruchel really has his emotional and comedic timing down pat and holds strong in this movie. He easily slips into the lovable nerd role, and gets to show off a little bit of his Canadian roots with a whole scene shot at a Pittsburgh Penguins game. If you weren't a fan of Jay Baruchel before this film, you just might just change your mind.
For a fun DVD rental, you can't go wrong with She's Out of My League. It's nothing revolutionary in the Romantic Comedy genre but it's sure to make you laugh.
3.5/5
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Science and Action. On the rare occasion when the two meet, it's either: bad science with great action (read: Michael Bay Movies) or good science with boring action (documentaries anyone?). But when beautiful minds collide, we are blessed with a perfect combination. Atomic Robo brings us fun and enjoyable action science in comic book form.
I'm going to start at the beginning of the Atomic Robo saga, (the series is now on Volume 4) because it's where I first fell in love with this comic booky goodness. Volume 1 is a brilliant introduction to a Robot with "automatic intelligence". The cool thing is that we start our journey with Robo a good 15 years after his creation and read our way through Lost like flashbacks.
The writing and the art compliment each other and make the bright world of Atomic Robo shine. Thanks to the witty writing, humor is never far to be found in this series. I recommend the 4th issue featuring Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking for a good laugh. As for the art: it began a bit stiff but has become better and better since the artists found their stride in the third issue.
The overall story of Volume 1 isn't my favorite of the series... not because this particular volume is in any way bad; in fact, volume 1 really helps you get a feel for Robo's world. The majority of it is set on earth where we meet characters that are central to future stories and Atomic Robo's arch-nemesis (*dun dun dun*).
I may be gushing, but this comic is really something I've grown attached to and has brought me back to comic books. I found Atomic Robo at a Free Comic Book Day event here in Edmonton and have never looked back. It's a gem in the indie comic book genre and if you are at all into comics, science, science fiction or pop culture, you owe it to yourself to at least check this comic out.
5/5
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Murder, revenge and mystery are all wonderful starting points for any story. A slow pace, drawn out scene, or an abrupt finale are horrible ways to end a story too. The Swedish film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is guilty of all of the above. Going into this film completely blind to it's marketing or even story, I left the film wanting more content in less time.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at it's core is really quite an interesting story. And why shouldn't it be? Based on a worldwide bestselling book the film has great groundwork laid out for it. The actors are all unknowns (at least in Canada) and the film is set on a beautiful island.
Regrettably, none of the things mentioned above seem to be taken advantage of by the filmmaker. I hear that the film's story is pretty close to the books. The movie is rather drawn out (perhaps for effect) but I found it quite slow with an abrupt finale. The film could have easily been rated R, with some graphic and unnecessarily long scenes. More editing could have done this film wonders.
I was prepared to like this film. I had zero expectations coming into it and I had no idea that it is a book series. Sadly the negatives really outweigh the positives of this film for me, and I'd probably have a tough time recommending this foreign film to anyone. Emo kids, foreign film enthusiasts or people who love the books may enjoy this movie, but none of those people are me. I'm just a guy who likes to watch movies and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will not be one I will ever watch again.
1/5
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My stomach hurts. My eyes are still welling up a little. These aren't feelings I expect to be overwhelmed with when I came out of a Robert Pattinson movie. I'm not a huge Twilight fan by any means, and this movie has really been marketed to the Twi-hard Pattinson lovers. Which is unfortunate, because underneath that marketing, there is actually a really good movie.
I say "really" good, and what I mean is just good. You see I'm all for the sappy, heart wrenching, make-you-feel-something movies. My wife hates this, when we go to the movies she wants to be entertained, not sobbing. So when I told her we could "go see a nice chick flick with that dude from Twilight and that chick from Lost" she was pretty game. Then the movie started and it was sad right off the bat. Whap! A punch right in the shoulder, "you said this movie was a chick flick!" Luckily though, the story, characters and realism of the movie pulled through for me.
The story is really about college love, how we all did stupid things when we were younger, how we all wanted to be a rebel without a cause and how all our parents are people too. Not easy subjects to tackle, but Remember Me does it all inside a nice emo-less story. Love holds strong in the movie, and family (though a broken family) holds tough by the end. I can't make many complaints about the story, I thougt it was the best part of the movie.
Remember Me has heart. The preformances aren't amazing, Emilie de Ravin does a fair job. Robert Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan do a great job at being angry at each other. Pierce Brosnan also plays a great rich-ass. But overall the movie is about real people and real problems. The movie pulls back the bow strings of it's character driven bow and nails you with a gut wrenching arrow straight into the heart at the ending. I didn't think it was going to happen, I had my doubts about Mr. Pattinson, but no longer. The heart of this movie snuck up on me and convinced me.
4/5
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March 7th is fast approaching us, and with that comes the handing out of little golden statuettes. This year The Academy has a few tricks up it's sleeves with double the hosts and double the best picture nominees. There are a multitude of categories at the ceremony, but I'm going to focus on only a few. I'll weigh in on what talkies I think deserves the gold men. I'll also let you know which ones I predict are going to win. Because who I want to win and who I think will win are usually different (but not always). First up is a fun one, the Animated Feature category:
Animated |
I think this pick is an easy one. Very clearly Up deserves and should receive the animated feature award. There has been nothing but rave reviews for Coraline. The Fantastic Mr. Fox shares some critical success (though I personally dio not care for it that much). The emotional puppeteers at Pixar have done it again. I wouldn't want to jinx it and say that surely a movie nominated for Best Picture and Animated Film should win; but honestly, anyone who sees Up knows how well it played with our heartstrings. Hands down Up will take this category, and if it doesn't... I'd like an explanation why.
Actress in a Supporting Role |
This list of ladies is a tricky one for me. Amongst the set of actresses chosen for the Best Supporting category, I have only seen two out of the 5 perform. Unfortunately I can only take a wild stab at who I think will take home the gold. I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal since her stint in Donnie Darko but after taking a look at what a lot of the critics are saying, I believe Mo'Nique is probably going home with this one.
Actor in a |
Now for those Supporting Men chasing after that Golden Guy. Let's go down the list, shall we? There is Mr. Damon, who worked with both Mr. Eastwood and Mr. Freeman (combined the three actors have a total of 6 Oscars). Then there's Woody with his knock out performance. The amazing Christopher Plummer, who I love in Doctor Parnassus and the always great Stanely Tucci. There is another though, who could it be? Bingo! It's Christoph Waltz. If this man does not walk away with the gold, The Academy ded not watch the same performance I did.
Actress in a |
Sandy, Sandy, Sandy... Everyone seems to think because you pulled off a southern drawl that you did an amazing job. I (maybe not so) politely disagree. Though I do love a fair amount of your comedic work, I think the wonderful up and coming Gabourey Sidibe deserves the award. Lets be honest, the acadmey loves Meryl. So if anyone is to place their bet on who is going to win, I'd bet on Mrs. Streep. Sincerely, Jay.
Actor in a |
Quite the brawl in the Leading Role ring; The Dude, Mr. Ocean, Mr. Darcy, God, and Hawkeye(?). Mr. Ocean (aka George Clooney) puts in a few good punches with his critically favored performance in Up in the Air. Morgan "God" Freeman, is born to play the great Nelson Mandela. It feels like Morgan is just way too comfortable in that role for my liking. I haven't had the chance to see A Single Man but Colin Firth deserves his spot on the list too. It comes down to Jeremy Renner and Jeff Bridges. I feel like both actors carry their films wonderfully and respectfully. My personal vote is for Hawkeye to go home with the gold. But my gut (and Entertainment Weekly) thinks that The Dude will go home with the title belt.
Directing |
The Directing category is a tough one to judge for a number of reasons. If someone's stamp, is all over a picture and you can tell, does that mean they've done a good job at directing a film? or not? Or perhaps the movie is poorly written in some people's eyes, but the film itself is visually stunning and helps shed new light on a new technology, does that mean the director did a good job? Or what if is just a tad bit political or deals with the issues of today, does a director get credit for that? I don't know, but my vote, if it counted, goes to Kathryn Bigelow for her work on The Hurt Locker. And my guess as to who is going to win, is none other then her husband James Cameron for bringing us Avatar. Avatar has to come away with at least the Best Director or the Best Picture.
Best Picture |
Or maybe Avatar could get away with getting both? I hope not. With so many options to choose from, and Avatar being a Sci-Fi film (sorry District 9, that means you too), I don't think it's going to walk away with a gold man. Instead, my prediction is that The Hurt Locker will get the credit it deserves and strike gold. I would love to seen Inglorious Basterds take this one home, but I don't think the Academy will back up a movie like this one. I've heard a couple whispers that Up could sneak in and snatch the Best Picture, but I highly doubt that. The award should go to The Hurt Locker.
Those are my thoughts and I'm sticking to them. Thanks for reading and check out for yourself who wins on Sunday March 7th at 8:00 pm EST.
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