Monday, 26 June 2017

Special: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Fist Fight, Kong: Skull Island Mini-Reviews

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales:

Synopsis: Johnny Depp returns to the big screen as the iconic, swashbuckling anti-hero Jack Sparrow in the all-new "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales." The rip-roaring adventure finds down-on-his-luck Captain Jack feeling the winds of ill-fortune blowing strongly his way when deadly ghost sailors, led by the terrifying Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil's Triangle bent on killing every pirate at sea-notably Jack. Jack's only hope of survival lies in the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it he must forge an uneasy alliance with Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), a brilliant and beautiful astronomer, and Henry (Brenton Thwaites), a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy. At the helm of the Dying Gull, his pitifully small and shabby ship, Captain Jack seeks not only to reverse his recent spate of ill fortune, but to save his very life from the most formidable and malicious foe he has ever faced.

My thoughts: Continuing the theme of decreasingly good pirates movies after the action-adventure of the first and the the adventure/comedy romp that was it's sequel. Since then we've gotten 3 films, Dead men included, that tries to do the best parts of the 2 earlier films but falls flat in comparison, not to say that this entry is a failure, by all means it's not but at the same time it's disheartening knowing what this film could've been.

Final verdict: 4 pirate zombies out of 5.

Fist Fight:

Synopsis: A mild-mannered high-school teacher (Charlie Day) is accused of getting a fellow teacher (Ice Cube) fired, and is challenged to a fight after the school day ends in this comedy directed by Richie Keen.

My thoughts: It had it's share of laughs but overall doesn't do much to push the comedy genre. Caught between a stoner-high school comedy and a raunchy comedy, Fist Fight goes back and forth trying to define itself and instead of doing one well it half-asses both. The leads play their roles well, as you'd expect with Ice Cube as a bully and Charlie Day as the neurotic nerd that's not looking for any trouble. The real theme here isn't the fight though, it's the downsizing of our school system which put into perspective works well but overall it's thrown to the background too much so that they can add more half-jokes.

Final verdict: 3 horses on meth out of 5.

Kong: Skull Island:

Synopsis: Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures' "Kong: Skull Island" reimagines the origin of the mythic Kong in a compelling, original adventure from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts ("The Kings of Summer"). In the film, a diverse team of explorers is brought together to venture deep into an uncharted island in the Pacific - as beautiful as it is treacherous - unaware that they're crossing into the domain of the mythic Kong.

My thoughts: Kong does a lot of things right. The visuals are top notch and the script is strong and it's backed by top notch acting. However here's where the problems creep up, they tried to cut down the running time by moving along at a fast pace, this ends up hurting the character development as there is a slew of characters to like and dislike, they only give you enough info on about 3-4 of them to feel for them, so when others die, survive, do something cool, you're left with a "meh".

Final verdict: 3 crashed copters out of 5.

Saturday, 24 June 2017

Top 10 Countdown: June 24, 2017

10. Broadside - Hidden Colors
Last week: NEW!


9. Grayscale - Atlantic
Last week: 5.


8. Set It Off - Hypnotized
Last week: 9.


7. New Found Glory - Party On Apocalypse
Last week: 8.


6. Seaway - Airhead
Last week: 7.


5. State Champs - Slow Burn
Last week: 6.


4. Run The Jewels - Legend Has It
Last week: 2.


3. Real Friends - Empty Picture Frames
Last week: 4.


2. Like Pacific - 22A
Last week: 1.


1. All Time Low - Last Young Renegade
Last week: 3.

Saturday, 17 June 2017

Top 10 Countdown: June 17, 2017

10. Yellowcard - A Place We Set Afire
Last week: 10.


9. Set It Off - Hypnotized
Last week: NEW!


8. New Found Glory - Party On Apocolypse
Last week: 9.


7. Seaway - Airhead
Last week: 8.


6. State Champs - Slow Burn
Last week: 7.


5. Grayscale - Atlantic
Last week: 3.


4. Real Friends - Empty Picture Frames
Last week: 5.


3. All Time Low - Last Young Renegade
Last week: 4.


2. Run The Jewels - Legend Has It
Last week: 2.


1. Like Pacific - 22A
Last week: 1.

Sunday, 11 June 2017

Special: Wonder Woman/Teen Titans: The Judas Contract/The Lego Batman Movie Mini-Reviews

Wonder Woman:

Synopsis: An Amazon princess (Gal Gadot) finds her idyllic life on an island occupied only by female warriors interrupted when a pilot (Chris Pine) crash-lands nearby. After rescuing him, she learns that World War I is engulfing the planet, and vows to use her superpowers to restore peace. Directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster).

My thoughts: What a breath of fresh air this film was. I'm trying really hard to think of a downside here but there just simply is not one. Wonder Woman delivers in spades, by the end credits, me, a nearly 30 year old man, thought how cool it would be to be Wonder Woman. The war scene is the best scene since the Chuch scene in Kingsman. The CGI and acting was top notch and each shot was filmed beautifully and was backed by a strong script. Gal Gadot, I had my doubts but you owned this.

Final verdict: 5 empowering kick ass scenes out of 5.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract:

Synopsis: Tara Markov is a girl who has power over earth and stone; she is also more than she seems. Is the newest Teen Titan an ally or a threat? And what are the mercenary Deathstroke's plans for the Titans?

My thoughts: The DCAU continues to be a strong product for DC Comics as they've continue to produce quality films, their latest just might be one of their best ever. The Judas Contract is a long loved story and the most iconic Teen Titans one at that. In this film Dick returns to the Titans as Nightwing so we get a mixture of the older titans with a batch of young blood which is a nice change of pace as we've become accustomed to the same old Batman or the same old Justice League taking down new threats, this much like the original New Teen Titans comics gives us everything we loved about the earlier stuff but makes sure we don't get bored or complacent with the material, which is important given the Titans decades long history.

Final verdict: 5 double-agent teens out of 5.

The Lego Batman Movie:

Synopsis: In the irreverent spirit of fun that made "The LEGO (R) Movie" a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble - LEGO Batman - stars in his own big-screen adventure: "The LEGO (R) Batman Movie." But there are big changes brewing in Gotham, and if he wants to save the city from The Joker's hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up.

My thoughts: Everyone loves Batman, so what does WB do? They make him a joke, and it is incredibly successful. They take all the camp that Batman was known for and all the brooding he's currently known for and mashed it up into a brilliant comedic art. Will Arnett voices this batman perfectly and the surrounding cast are equally as strong.

Final verdict: 5 Lego Batman villains out of 5.

Saturday, 10 June 2017

Top 10 Countdown: June 10, 2017

10. Yellowcard - A Place We Set Afire
Last week: NEW!


9. New Found Glory - Party On Apacolypse
Last week: NEW!


8. Seaway - Airhead
Last week: 9.


7. State Champs - Slow Burn
Last week: 8.


6. The Maine - Bad Behavior
Last week: 1.


5. Real Friends - Empty Picture Frames
Last week: 7.


4. All Time Low - Last Young Renegade
Last week: 5.


3. Grayscale - Atlantic
Last week: 3.


2. Run The Jewels - Legend Has It
Last week: 4.


1. Like Pacific - 22A
Last week: 2.

Monday, 5 June 2017

Special: Best of May 2017

Best Theatrical Film:

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

May was pretty good for movies overall as it normally is but this year one stood above the rest and that's the Guardians of the frickin' Galaxy (except he didn't say frickin'). It was fun, it was action packed, it was funny when it needed to be, and heart wrenching just to make you cry (you bastards!). Likely one of the best films of the year so far so you won't want to miss out on this one.

Best Rental Film:

Logan

I usually don't like putting films that have previously won "Best Theatrical Film" category in the rental film category but with May there was only 2 really good Movies, Logan and Resident Evil 5, although I could've given the nod to RE5 that just didn't seem right since Logan is the better film so against my best wishes I rolled with Logan but feel free to grab both when you go and rent movies at a Family Video near you.

Best Album:

blink-182 - California (Deluxe)

Sorry Paramore, I expected you to take this spot but after a few listens I'm just not into it as much as I thought I'd be and with blink debuting California before this column was a thing I felt it was appropriate to give California the nod it deserves for reminding us that blink still makes proper pop-punk records.

Best Graphic Novel:

Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged!, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos

Bendis and Gaydos, the creators behind Jessica’s original iconic series (on which the Netflix show is largely based), return to the character after a decade. A lot’s changed for the character and for the larger Marvel U, but Jessica is back behind the desk of Alias Investigations. She comes into possession of some potentially very damaging information about other Marvel heroes while facing down a killer with cannibalistic tendencies.

Best Video Game:

Injustice 2 (Xbox One & PS4)

Saturday, 3 June 2017

Top 10 Countdown: June 3, 2017

10. The Menzingers - After The Party
Last week: 10.

9. Seaway - Airhead
Last week: NEW!

8. State Champs - Slow Burn
Last week: 9.

7. Real Friends - Empty Picture Frames
Last week: 8.

6.  The Summer Set - Jean Jacket
Last week: 2.

5. All Time Low - Last Young Renegade
Last week: 7.

4. Run The Jewels - Legend Has It
Last week: 5.

3. Grayscale - Atlantic
Last week: 4.

2. Like Pacific - 22A
Last week: 3.

1. The Maine - Bad Behavior
Last week: 1.