The trailers for Battleship give everything away, if anything can be said to be secret about a movie based on Hasbro’s popular board game. There are naval vessels. There are aliens. They fight. Without any related IP baggage of any kind, Battleship had the freedom to make a great naval warfare movie; I’m even willing to give them the aliens just because the sci-fi geek in me screams at the thought of World War II class 16 inch guns firing 2000 pound shells at E.T. I’ve seen Midway, Victory at Sea, and In Harm’s Way. I knew what to expect from a movie about naval warfare. I expected carnage. I expected explosions. I expected fleets of ships in classic naval maneuvers that pushed through deep water and came home bloody but unbroken. I hoped for David Weber’s Honor Harrington on the ocean. As it is, this film barely made it out of the harbor, let alone onto the roll of honored dead.
Tag: Movies & Television
The Odds Favor a Sequel
Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” debuted in US theaters this week, to much hype and the attendance of many teenagers. For both of you who may be unfamiliar with this violent work of chick-lit, in a dystopian future, The Capitol forces each of the 12 Districts in the nation to send a pair of teenagers to fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games. Think “A Clockwork Orange” meets “The Running Man” and you get the basic look and feel of the movie. The book series was aggressively advertised as a sci-fi action novel – which it most definitely is not. The movie suffers from the same poor marketing, as it is being portrayed as an action film when it is in fact a drama of the much more ordinary sort. Which isn’t to say it’s not a decent enough movie.
Asgardian Box Office
Curtis and I gather round the coffee table to kick around Thor. Not harshly, mind, but we do feel that it needs to be kicked a bit. I really wanted to like this movie in the same way that I like Iron Man or the Incredible Hulk. Unfortunately, the result was somewhat lackluster – with a story that just didn’t live up to the potential of its characters. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of good stuff going on in this movie, and we found it to be an acceptable offering, if not a particularly outstanding one.
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Corporate Oppressors
Released now, calculated to bring as little benefit or press to the film as possible, Curtis and I break down as much of “Avatar” as we can stomach. We lay the entirety of the blame at James Cameron’s doorstep – he really ought to know better. We do some side trails into the fad that is the current generation of 3D movies, “Prince of Persia” – which we both really enjoyed, in spite of my frustrated rant about the ending, and then plug upcoming RPG projects here at Critical Press Media. Hey, it’s worth repeating: look for OpenD6: Agents to hit digital download and POD before the end of the summer!
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Censorship and Ratings
Gather round the coffee table while Curtis and I discuss our reactions to the documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated”. Topics of the show include censorship, the ratings system, the rights of artistes, and what makes a film age or content appropriate. Just because something reflects real behavior does not make it art.
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State of the TV Address
Gather round the coffee table for a discussion of the state of television today. Kick back, relax, and grab a cup of coffee while the guys and I kvetch about those shows that should have been, those show we wish weren’t, and reality vs actuality.
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Am I Blu-Ray?
Not all claims of High-Definition TV are equal. I give a quick primer on HDTV, Blu-Ray, and thing to consider when setting up your home entertainment area. Lite on links this week, so click around the website!
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Family Movie Night
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Some family, some not so family. Some good, some not so good. The wife and I recline and share some views on the movies we’ve seen this week, the movies we’re anticipating, and the state of movie making in general. We touch on the topic of horror films, highlight the technical improvements of the new Star Trek over the old, and despair for the glory days of Disney past like the old fogeys we are. Movies include: The Battle for Terra, Star Trek, assorted Disney films, Friday the 13th, and Halloween. Plus an update on November contests and stuff. There’s a whole slough of worthy links on the blog page, so don’t forget to click some of them.
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Makes Me Crazy
Mistreatment of my favorite characters makes me crazy. Unearned reputation makes me crazy. Spending two and a half years on a comic book hoping against hope that it will turn out to be epic (or at least comprehensible) makes me crazy! And when the Powers That Be decide to turn a waste of paper into a waste of film, shoot a trailer and promotional reel that looks freakin’ awesome, and then utterly fail to deliver the goods on a product that I really should have known better than to buy in the first place . . . well that really makes me crazy!
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Lion’s Gate Marvels
Marvel Comics has really dominated the animated movie landscape for the past three years or so. I take the time to look at the recent offerings from Lion’s Gate and break down the subtext of my favorite films. They’re all good stuff, and I recommend any of them. This week introduces a few new things, including the Fanboyarama section of the Amazon store, and the podsafe album of the week. This week, we’re doing Marvel Heroes in animation, and the music selection is “Manifestations” by Synaecide. Check it out in the tabber box!
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