We are Winning…

The more I listen to Flobots, the more I like them.

Logic is the only the beginning.

Behold the new Star Trek character posters, which look gorgeous!! And since it’s been awhile since I’ve posted any news tidbits, here are the ones that were released a couple weeks ago.

And some saddening news - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been delayed till summer of next year, on July 17. I’m not going to worry too much about this one actually. I think it’ll be good for the movie to be pushed back awhile. It eases my fears about David Yates (my least favorite director so far in the series). Maybe now with the extra time they can make it that much more amazing. Although if the sixth film doesn’t blow my mind away, my socks off, and my pants into another dimension, I will be seriously pissed.

And surprise surprise, George Lucas’s latest cheap cash-in on his I’m-starting-to-think-undeserved-empire, er, excuse me, his latest honest work of art in his belovedly created universe, is getting a solid beating on Rotten Tomatoes. How does he live with himself? Honestly. He created a world that has meant so much to so many, and after the semi goodwill that was generated by Revenge of the Sith’s not-total-suckage, he’s going to completely obliterate it with this piece of garbage.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (7/10)

The Mummy remake series has never been about anything beyond the most basest of thrills. Plot holes have abounded in both and the second was little more than a glorified version of the first. But quality or no quality, one thing they have always succeeded in giving an unpretentious, no-strings attached, special-effects driven ride. This third one resurrects the franchise with a twist, transposing the idea of the Mummy to Asia (thank God they didn’t bring back Imhotep again) and supplanting director Stephen Sommers with Rob Cohen, director of such “classics” like Stealth and xXx. Okay, sure, his resume’s not too impressive, but what he’s done with the Mummy franchise is. This one may not be as high on the quality ladder as its two predecessors, but its entertainment value is skyscraper high.

It’s been another amorphous amount of time between the last movie and this one, and apparently the time has been so amorphous that Rick O’Connell (played with his usual inimitable cheesy gusto) hasn’t aged at all while his son Alex (a stone Luke Ford) has grown about fifteen to twenty years. And it doesn’t really matter how much Alex’s mother, Evelyn O’Connell, has aged, because she’s played by a different actress this time around. Rachel Weisz turned down the script, so Maria Bello picks up the slack. She isn’t nearly as good as Weisz was in the role, whose effortless chemistry and witty banter with Fraser is part of what made the series so much fun. Bello is a great actress, but this simply isn’t the role for her.

Just like a quiet life isn’t the role for Rick and Evelyn, who spend their days attending fancy functions and writing about their experiences - in other words, they’re bored as hell. Well it’s a sure good thing for them that Alex is about to uncover an Asian mummy (Jet Li, literally without anything to do except walk around encased in clay for a good three-fourths of the movie) thousands of years old who, when unleashed, will rain down destruction (CGI goodness) upon humanity the likes of which has never been seen before!…except in the previous two Mummy films.

Originality obviously isn’t this mummy’s strong suit, but it shouldn’t really matter as long as the action and CGI are up to par enough to compensate, right? Well, I’m happy to report that they are, and this mummy features some of the best effects of the trilogy, and because our heroes are no longer restricted to desert and jungle scenes, they continent-hop all over the world and the dazzling effects keep up with them quite well, including a scene in the mountains where giant yeti battle against the soldiers of the resurrected emperor.

The relationships between the characters are also strengthened this time around - it actually reminded me a bit of the Incredibles in the way that it took some real family drama and transposed it against an epic chaotic backdrop - no, I’m not saying this film is nearly half as good as the razor sharp script that Incredibles had, but it’s at least a step up from the previous two films, where the relationships between the characters were always tertiary to the action. In this flick, they’re merely secondary, and though none of the actors, except Fraser, are particularly good, they’re at least enjoyable to watch bicker back and forth.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, shouldn’t be taken seriously by anyone, really. If you want realism in age differences, in CGI, or even in simply the storyline, you’re probably watching the wrong kind of movie. This new Mummy stays true to the spirit of its predecessors and just serves up an unadorned platter of goofy action. It may be silly, but boy, is it fun.

Step Brothers (7/10)

The latest from the legendary Apatow comedy dynamite team isn’t their best, but thankfully, it’s not their worst either. It doesn’t contain the emotional depth or love-conquers-all message that the others do, and it usually condones and makes fun of immature people rather than stressing the importance of growing up (Knocked Up, the 40-Year Old Virgin, Superbad). However, that’s okay. If you’re willing to look at Step Brothers as little more than a series of skits about these two bumbling immature adults, you’ll probably have a good time.

John C. Reilly is Dale Doback and Will Ferrell is Brennan Huff, two forty-year old shlumps who never left the house and who spend their days munching on junk food at home and getting beat up by school children because they’re such big wusses. Their divorced parents meet and marry, and a storm of chaotic sibling rivalry ensues, soon replaced by brotherly love and a decision to become hard-working adults.

The comedy in Step Brothers is not what’s lacking. Reilly and Ferrell are perfect for each of their parts - some lines that would never work when uttered through the mouth of another actor seem like comedy gold when Ferrell gets a hold of it. “I’m burying you alive,” in a scene wherein he dumps dirt upon a live Dale in a hole in the ground. The sheer ridiculous immaturity of these two adults is so completely unbelievable that there’s no point in trying to find a moral or logic to the script - instead you should just go along for the ride and you’ll probably find yourself having a great time. The lack of a coherent through-story and character arc for each of the brothers could be due to what Adam McKay has spent the last couple years doing - running the “Funny or Die” website that he started with Will Ferrell - a site similar to youtube, except where the sole determination of whether a video is good is whether or not it’s funny. Each of the episodes wherein we see sibling rivalry or bonding would not look out of place as a five minute video on “Funny or Die.”

Because of this style of comedy, it’s difficult to care too much about the characters. Stuff happens to them throughout the movie, but it’s never so much a logical sequence of events as it is random splattering plot points popping up here and there. A short, sweet, moral is tacked on the end, but it doesn’t flow what came before - McKay wants us to laugh at and almost celebrate this duo’s stupidity for a good hour - and then he asks us to turn a mature and judgmental eye on them because they need to do some growing up. This message is even further garbled by scene at the end that smashes all previous logic that existed in the story to bits. (Although the sheer ludicrosity of that scene is refreshing and actually works, considering the unsure tone of the movie.)

As Apatow films have gone along, they have kind of evolved into some other kind of beast where there’s a fine line between making fun of yourself and your own immaturity and condoning it. Step Brothers doesn’t toe that line - it crashes and burns headlong into the condoning side and tries unsuccessfully to cross back over fifteen minutes before the credits roll. In terms of the usual emotional heart and soul Apatow affairs contain, Step Brothers is a dud. But in terms sheer laugh ratio, it’s a winner. Up to you which one you’re in the mood for.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (3/10)

There’s a lot going for Chris Carter’s latest directorial effort, not the least of which is the hotly anticipated reunion of arguably TV’s most sizzling onscreen-couple: Mulder and Scully. Admittedly, it was also a gutsy move of him to place the movie in this superhero summer, where it threatens to become swallowed beneath the combined weight of Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, and Mr. Heath Ledger himself. But even if Carter’s forgiven for how poorly “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” measures up to the rest of this summer’s fare, and even though David Duchovny and Gillian Andersons share as effortless chemistry as ever, the new X-Files is a dead in the water dud, a steaming pile of spiritual-psycho-babble BS that feels more like an episode of the TV show than an actual movie.

It’s been more than five years since Mulder and Scully’s FBI ship has sailed, and we now find that Scully’s a doctor in the middle of a treatment for a young boy and Mulder spends his days scouring newspapers and magazines for any clippings of unexplained phenomena. Enter the FBI, who hunt down Mulder and Scully because of an unexplained case involving a pedophile priest who may be linked to a series of murders. The catch? He has no connection to the victims whatsoever and finds the bodies through psychic visions.

The main focus of the movie is Mulder’s belief - like the film’s title, he struggles with this case because he wants to believe in the psychic powers of this priest but the evidence isn’t conclusive enough. Wait, didn’t Carter spend nine years exploring this? Mulder and Scully bicker throughout the film like they were back at the FBI ten years ago - arguing back and forth about belief and the supernatural and the possibility of the fantastic. It’s yawn-inducing, and even those episodes of the show that weren’t the best could eclipse this movie easily.

The acting is decent all around - speaking as a long time fan of the series, there’s nothing like seeing these two characters onscreen again, and the jolt that ran through me was almost enough to compensate for how bad the movie was. Almost. Looking back on the movie, there is nothing particularly memorable about it - it could fit in a two-part special on FOX back in the day and no one would have noticed the difference, which will make a lot of fans pretty damn mad at Chris Carter for wasting their time. I know he has me pissed. Really, Chris? You leave for six entire years, you hype up this movie saying it’s going to be a powerful spiritual exploration into Mulder’s beliefs and how they affect who he is, and then you give us this, a relic, a disgrace to one of the best TV shows of all time, that looks like you dug it up from an episode that never aired Perhaps you should have left that episode back where it belonged, instead of letting it land resoundingly anti-climactically in the multiplex. I want to believe, but I just can’t.

Anchorman 2….

So apparently Adam McKay and Will Ferrell are talking about bringing sexy back in the form of Ron Burgundy with Anchorman 2! I gotta admit, I’m pretty excited about the news. Films since Anchorman have tried to duplicate its formula but none have harnessed its simple charm.  I have a hunch Anchorman 2 might.

The Dark Knight (10/10)

Burned into your brain after you’ve seen “The Dark Knight” will be a deranged face painted a jagged white with grotesquely exaggerated lipstick, two uncomfortably visible scars protruding from the corners of the mouth, oily green longish hair, and a cackling maniacal laugh that truly is the stuff of nightmares.

But not only will you be left with Heath Ledger’s compulsorily watchable performance (more on that later), you’ll also walk away with some rather dark themes and gripping psychological questions that will probably stay longer with you than any comic book movie ever has. The Dark Knight is the best superhero movie ever made, and not only that, it’s the best movie of the year and features many of the best performances of the decade.

It’s been several months since the events of Batman Begins took place, and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is finding out that roaming around the city as a caped crusader isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Though he has succeeded in squelching the criminal underworld’s activity, copycats roam the streets, wearing fake bat costumes and claiming that they’re doing just as much good as the Dark Knight.

Then there’s Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Gotham’s new DA who has done more than Batman ever could in bringing the city’s scum to justice. He’s the white knight to Batman’s dark one, a man of unquestionable moral character and a solid belief that Batman is a necessary evil in the dark and brooding times in which Gotham finds itself.

Enter the Joker (Heath Ledger), a psychopathic killer with little on his mind except causing chaos and bringing the city of Gotham to its knees, and he has his eyes particularly on Dent and the Batman, determined to corrupt these two incorruptibles.

This triad forms the backbone of the entire movie, and the interaction between them is darkly fascinating, touching on a myriad of themes, including terrorism, justice, evil, and crime. Superhero films have explored these kinds of things before, but never with such finesse and talent – the Dark Knight is not out of place being compared with “The Departed” and “The Godfather”; it’s an epic unpredictable crime saga composed of larger-than-life characters and a willingness to go some pretty dark places for the sake of the story, and it’s absorbing in every way.

Much moreso than Batman Begins, “The Dark Knight” is an ensemble epic, where Batman is not the main focus at all – the film may be named after him, but he’s just a small piece of the puzzle and part of the five major roles that make up the central story of the movie. Every character has their story and they all fit together perfectly, and the corresponding performances are just as strong.

Maggie Gyllenhall is Rachel Dawes, Harvey Dent’s love interest and Bruce’s ex-flame, who broke up with him because she couldn’t be with him as long as Gotham needed Batman. Now that Dent is looking like he’s set to make Batman obsolete, Bruce is interested in starting up their relationship again. She replaces Katie Holmes from the last one, and does an infinitely better job, playing her as a more mature, savvy, and active role in the affairs of the police and the DA instead of just a pretty face.

Gary Oldman is back as Chief of Police Gordon, and it’s absolutely astounding what he can do with such a small role. It’s slightly bigger than Gyllenhall’s and slightly smaller than Eckhart’s, but with the intensity with which he displays Gordon’s unabashed dedication to good, it’s always fun to watch him. Usually characters who are nothing but good in a film are boring, but Oldman razes that notion to the ground.

Christian Bale continues to show how great of an actor he truly is – Batman and Bruce Wayne have few lines in this movie but he makes every one of them true – he’s a man who has been broken by a dark past, whose actions to try to do good are being thwarted left and right, and he’s deeply tortured by the results.

Aaron Eckhart is a joyous surprise as Harvey Dent – at first he seems like he’s just going to be playing him like a straight arrow, but as the film unfolds he adds layers to his character with expertise and when a dramatic and horrific change occurs about an hour and a half into the film, Eckhart makes the transformation believable and engrossing despite not having much time in which to do it. It’s nearly an Oscar-worthy performance, but unfortunately for him he had to give this performance in a film with the best villain of the decade played one of the best actors of his generation – Heath Ledger as the Joker.

Ledger’s death rocked the entertainment world earlier this year, and profoundly affected hundreds of thousands of people, and though the pessimist may want to claim that the only reason his performance appears so good is because we want to remember him fondly, this view is simply naïve. Remember Jack Nicholson? Not after watching “The Dark Knight”, you won’t. For years Nicholson’s performance in Burton’s original “Batman” was widely considered to be one of the best villains of all time, but Ledger’s Joker is an entirely different beast that takes Nicholson’s performance and beats it to death while obliterating it from our memory.

Nicholson played the Joker as a showman, a demented three-ring circus clown who sprayed deadly acid from a flower on his lapel and cackled his way to world-renowned insanity. Ledger takes the Joker down a much darker road, and makes Nicholson’s performance look like, well, a joke. This Joker could kick Nicholson’s ass, cutting him open with dozens of knives because it meant he could “savor the pain more.”

But to reduce Ledger to merely comparisons to Nicholson would be an insult to the instantly classic and, I’ll say it, I’ll use the “P” word, perfect performance. We never find out who his daddy is (except in a scene that skewers and stabs the traditional idea of super-villains having some kind of emotionally powerful back-story), and we never truly understand why he’s doing all this, except to cause chaos, which is perhaps more terrifying than anything. As Wayne’s trusty butler Alfred puts it, “Some people just want to watch the world burn.”

And indeed that’s all the Joker does seem to want – appearing out of nowhere, with no traceable past, he wreaks havoc across the city like some kind of perverse ghost, a circus in town that nobody wants, and because of this freedom, Ledger is allowed full reign of his character. Ledger’s Joker is an instant classic not only because he plays him a lot more darker than Nicholson did (and in fact Ledger’s Joker is much closer to the original comics), but because of how much you never really think of him as Ledger. It’s to the actor’s credit that you don’t really think about his death until after the movie is over – for the most part you’ll be picking that stray jaw up from the floor with how perfectly (yes, I used the “p” word again) he he hobbles, wobbles, struts, and dances from scene to scene, inserting a devilish cackle here, some smacking lips there, and a “why so serious?” over there. It’s a terrifying, brutal, fascinating, riveting performance – every time he’s onscreen you won’t be able to take your eyes off him.

And now that I’m done ranting about Heath Ledger’s performance for four paragraphs, a couple of minor players should be mentioned – Michael Caine as Alfred is his usual dapper self; in a role that could have been overlooked for how few lines it has, he owns it and puts his stamp on the film like only he can. And then of course there’s Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Bruce’s weapons, supplies, and suit specialist. You don’t get any more charismatic than Freeman, and he can make the most tired script seem fresh and new merely through his soothing voice.

Fortunately for him he’s working with a fantastic script, developed by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan, and the siblings have really penned one for the books – there’s quiet moments between two characters, grand speeches about heroes and villains and which one Gotham needs, why the Joker does what he does. “I’m like a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do if I caught one!” he exclaims gleefully.

Nolan has also made a clear change from “Begins” – whereas Gotham still seemed to be eternally stuck in the middle of the night in his original, and obviously existed in some kind of strange post-Burton futuristic Gotham world, there are plenty of day time scenes here, and most of the sets are perfectly realistic, the kind of pseudo-New York that exists in most every superhero movie. The change actually works, as the realistic setting only amplifies the fear we see upon seeing the Joker perform his acts of terror.

The music is so good it deserves mentioning too – subtle but suited to every situation – when Batman stands atop a building and drops down into the night, swooping his wings out in a bold yet graceful manner, the score will soar along with your nerves and your heart-rate. When the Joker is taunting one of his victims or simply staring at the camera, the score is simply chilling.

Are there flaws with this movie? Probably. There are some cases where’s it’s questionable as to whether or not they needed to include such a large cast (and 2 ½ hours “The Dark Knight” may try some viewers’ patience but it didn’t once test mine), but if you ask me the huge cast and the myriad of story threads only aided how much of a grand epic crime drama this movie was. It’s certain to please some viewers who normally don’t like comic book films, but it’s also got enough for us nerds to happily feast away. The way it juggles its themes and characters is masterful, it’s acted superbly by every single member of its cast, and it’s certainly the best movie of the summer. Probably the best movie of the year. Is it, however one of the best movies of all time, a masterpiece that transcends genres and demographics? It wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Is the Dark Knight the best movie ever made?

According to IMDB it is.

This is a historic day, and even if (as will probably happen) it drops back down after more and more people see it and may not hold up over time, it’s still incredible that it happened. So many people are united in their love for this movie, it’s insane. Whenever a movie I really love that gets really good reviews comes out, I check out its reviews on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. On IMDB they’ve never ascended past number five or so, even with such great films as Ratatouille, No Country for Old Men, Wall-E, or There Will Be Blood. Most of them don’t even make it into the top ten.

And the Dark Knight made it to number one. This is a truly unique movie, and I’ll post more in-depth thoughts on it once I’ve written my review. I’ve seen it twice already and am taking longer than usual because I want my review to really do justice to the wonderful piece of work this is.

I’m convinced it’s even going to overturn last year’s $151 million Spider-Man 3 opening weekend. And it will certainly hold up better over time, because Spidey dropped a significant percentage in the second weekend due to a lot of people being disappointed with it. Who knows? I could even go all the way and topple the overrated Titanic that has never once deserved all the money it made at the box office. Titanic is not a bad movie necessarily, but certainly not one of the greatest of all time. The Dark Knight is.

I’m crossing my fingers, and dear reader, come and cross them with me.

*EDIT*

According to opening day estimates on Box Office Mojo it’s already beat the opening day record by $7 million and reigns supreme at $66 million. This movie could very well make in its first week what most blockbusters dream of making their entire run. I cannot wait to see the Sunday estimates.

I’m THIS many!

Yesterday night I saw The Dark Knight, and it’s truly an amazing movie, but I won’t post my review quite yet. I want to give it time to percolate in my head and potentially watch it again (or maybe watch the first one again) before I write the review, but I did want to make a post today and self-indulgently chat with the internet about how I’ve been blogging for a year now.

I guess I’ve been blogging for a few years now - I put up reviews in myspace long before I even thought about starting this blog, and a couple failed blogs include one where I reviewed all the movies in my 200+ collection and one where I wrote several different types of stories. I even had an autobiographical xanga at one point, but eventually I became less and less interested in sharing my overly-dramatic life with the world at large and instead moved my sights to film blogging. I had loved film and writing for a long time, and every time a trailer or some bit of tidbit news had come up, I would have to post it in my xanga. Eventually, as my love for film increased, so did what film references were posted in xanga. I never did too much, because I felt that blog was more about my personal life than it was about my pop culture interests. And then I thought, “Hey, why not create a blog about my pop culture interests?”

And bam - Entertainment and Pop Culturalia was born (that’s why my blog’s url is like it is), a blog that took about a month or so to find its sure footing, and soon after that I expanded and created a youtube account. Thinking that Entertainment and Pop Culturalia was too obscure and gimmicky to appeal to youtubers, I came up with the name Movie Buzz Review Dude, and quickly after that changed this blog’s name.

Now it’s been a full year to the day since I created my first post, traffic has gone down on my site, I don’t post as many tidbits and news (though I may start that up again soon), and my blog has become much more review-centered. I’m sure it will go through a lot of changes in the coming months and years, and I’m hoping an increase in readership will be part of that as well. I’m planning on keeping this blog for a long long time, and I hope you regular readers out there stick with me for just as long.

Thanks for reading!

The Pulse Pen (And some Flobots…)

So I’m not usually that much of a techno-geek (at least not enough to ever really post anything about technology in this blog, haha), but I saw this little gem and just had to. Apparently these things are already available. How far will technology take us? As a student one thing I know I’ve said several times to my friends, “Man, I wish I could do a word search through my notes.” Now I CAN.

And here’s the music video of a band I recently discovered, called the Flobots. This song is called, “Handlebars.” Really listen to the lyrics, because otherwise it might not make entirely too much sense.