Tag / Movie Review

by WetheGeek

Aquaman worth all the waves?

Aquaman

…I guess I should finally talk about the newest trailer. I mean it did happen…

If you can’t tell I’m not terribly excited for this movie. I have about as much hope for it as I did for Venom, which wasn’t a whole lot. DC has been disappointing me a lot lately. They have issues with the comics, poor management of their new shows, misuse of current properties, not to mention the 80% failure rate of the DCEU movies.

I’ve tried to like the DCEU. I really have. Granted I though Man of Steel was at best a 5/10. But Batman v Superman was a 6/10 and Suicide Squad was another 6/10. Wonder Woman was fantastic. I bought it immediately when it came out. It’s an easy 9-9.5/10. But when I walked out of Justice League I had to apologize to my girlfriend. That was the first superhero movie she had ever seen and it was maybe a 6.5-7.

You can always say I’m just a Marvel fanboy who doesn’t know anything. That’s one excuse you can tell yourself. But you’re wrong. I do enjoy Marvel yes. But it’s also incredibly hard to argue against the quality and success of Thor Ragnorok, Black Panther, and Infinity War. Those three hit the MCU out of the park. I admit Marvel has had some bombs like Iron Man 2 and 3, Thor 1 and 2, Age of Ultron and a few others. But Marvel also made giants that put all others to shame.

I should stop myself. This isn’t why the MCU makes better movies. It’s Aquaman.

I mostly ranted because Mark Millar (wrote comics for both DC and Marvel) posted on Twitter “Aquaman trailer just made modern Marvel look like 70s TV Marvel, chums,” Millar wrote in a tweet. “The green gauntlet has been slapped down and DC back in the game. A 5 min trailer so damn audacious, [James Wan], you damn genius!”

I don’t agree.

The DCEU has time and time again shown trailers and cut anything the fans were excited about. Both Justice League and Suicide Squad suffered that fate.

But putting all that aside let’s talk about the trailer. I do think it spoiled too much being five minutes. Here is my plot prediction:

**Spoilers?**

Mera comes to Aquaman needing help. Orm, Aquas half brother is planning to take the throne of Atlantis. But to be king Orm needs the kings trident. So the married couple to be go in search of it. Along the way they are tracked by Black Manta and almost killed. Black Manta was hired by Orm to kill the duo and steal the trident. Manta fails and Aqua gets the trident. He is proven the “true heir”, dons the King Armor, and leads the armies of Atlantis against Orm and his dark demons. Orm turns out to be being controlled by some dark force Aqua has to fight. The final boss fight is poorly lit and the villain is grayish black making him hard to see. Aquaman wins and the movie is over.

Even with all the predictability there are some distinct moments worth mentioning.

Black Manta. He is the sole reason I want to see this movie. He looks absolutely amazing. I’m so ready for him to be on the big screen. As a villain I’ve always found him fascinating.

The King Armor. It’s a call back to the classic orange and green suit. It looks fantastic.

Summary? DC better be bringing something new because I’m very bored with them.

-RytheGeek

by WetheGeek

Ghostbusters (the good one)

We are going to start Spooktober Throwback Thursday off right with a classic geek comedy

Ghostbusters

It’s the 1980’s and Dan Aykroyd is living the big life. SNL is at its peak and nothing can go wrong. Dan along with the help of John Belushi come up with a crazy script about a time traveling SWAT like team fighting ghosts. They titled it Ghostmashers. Seeing the budget (and technology) issues with the first script, Ivan Reitman told Aykroyd to rewrite it. And he did. We finally ended up with what was released in 1984.

I’m going to be honest. You should have seen this in the 34 years it’s been out. But if you haven’t I’ll give you a short recap.

Ghostbusters follows Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson around New York catching ghosts. Aykroyd, Murray, and Ramis are failed Columbia University scientists who get kicked out of school and have to start over. They put together enough money to start a small team to fight and capture ghosts.

New York is strangely exploding with ghosts at this time and the team is in high demand. They hire Hudson to help with the influx. The team is called by Sigourney Weaver to figure out why a demon is hiding in her apartment.

The EPA steps in and screws everything up (typical big government). The EPA accidentally starts the apocalypse by releasing all the ghosts the team had captured. The team discovered the demon in Weavers apartment is responsible and they have to fight it. I’ll let you watch the rest to see how they did.

Ghostbusters is a classic. It’s spun off a ton of material including cartoons, video games, and two other terrible live action movies. If you ignore all the crap it’s helped create you can actually enjoy the movie. It’s funny and charming and not too far down the science fiction path that it gets confusing. It’s very well balanced and includes some amazing talent. Rick Moranis even has a role that he does well. It will definitely make you laugh and probably even cheer as you watch the plucky team fight their was to fame and fortune. It’s iconic and incredible. It’s all memorable and enjoyable from the cast to the music.

I give it a solid 8/10 😃

-RytheGeek

by WetheGeek

The fantastic Christopher Robin

Disney has been doing a lot of movies that have taken their older productions and, basically, slapped a glossy finish over them via live action resulting in… Mediocre films in my opinion. The retelling of their classics like “Beauty and the Beast”, “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty”, and “The Jungle Book” have always left me with the thought that the originals were better and why not just release the originals again in movie theaters for the next generation to enjoy on the big screen.
“Christopher Robin” isn’t just a simple retelling of “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”, since it is an elder Christopher finding his old friends again, but nostalgia plays a huge role in the movie. I wonder how good I would’ve considered the movie if I hadn’t seen the original animated classic. It does begin in right at the tail end 🎶 of Christopher’s childhood days 🎶 so we have some basis of the stuffed friends but without knowing the original classic, some jokes fall flat.
Either way, the movie was a warm hearted tale about a man rediscovering his childhood imagination and would actually be a great movie to take your child to if they’ve seen the original.
-Mabel

by WetheGeek

Dial M for Mabel

I’ve always wanted to watch an Alfred Hitchcock but I really didn’t have an idea about which to start with besides “Psycho” and I’m not basic so this is the result.
The plot is about a man who creates the perfect murder plot in order to kill his cheating wife but the murder goes sour and the man has to spend the rest of the movie trying to work with what he has.
I am a decent fan of murder mysteries and constantly listen to the podcast “Unsolved Murders” so it was very interesting to see the film unfold before me because, from the very beginning of the movie, you know the entire murder plot within the first 15 minutes. The way that Alfred directed each scene is gripping and I actually was holding my breath to see if the man is ever caught as he has constant brushes with the law as they investigate the scene of the crime.
Because it was a stageplay before it made it to the big screen, the entire movie works within the confines of the murder house with one exception so you can feel the stress that the man constantly faces as you watch him delicately weaves his murder.
You really need to pay attention to every detail to this movie so I would not suggest watching this as a “relaxation” movie.
-Mabel

by WetheGeek

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Now, most of you are going to be like “I have no idea what that movie is and, more to the point, who you are” but that’s ok, I’ll get to my intro later!
For now I’m going to introduce this wonderful Chinese film that was nominated for 10 different awards after its release in 2000.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a martial arts movie that has many subplots to it but is grossly boiled down to: Man wants to renounce his art, old enemy returns with prodigy and now man wants save the prodigy. Since it’s originally in Mandarin, the movie graciously offers the option for either subbed or dubbed, which are both well done in each respect but I had to watch it in dubbed because the visuals are incredible.
The main reason why I wanted to watch this film was because of how often it was mentioned when people talked about visuals and I was not disappointed what so ever. The martial art is flawless, the costumes are beautiful, the flow from one shot to another is gorgeous!
If you do plan to watch it, do be warned that there is a sex scene right in the middle that adds nothing to the plot.
Happy Watching,
-Mabel

by WetheGeek

Song of the Sea is pure magic

I just recently watched Song of the Sea and I’ve got to say:
If you haven’t seen it or it’s sister Secret of Kells then you are missing out on something seriously different.
With it’s whimsical, almost Flannelgraphic, art style and calming Gaelic music, Song of the Sea takes the viewer along in the mystical world of Gaelic Fairies as a willful Ben discovers that his mute sister Seoirse is the sole hope for the Fairie Folk in Ireland. Though the story itself wasn’t that thought provoking to me in either movie, it was the way they painted the story with colorful characters that kept me gazing at my screen for the whole time.
I highly suggest this movie if you are looking for something different from the mainstream media.

-Mabel

by WetheGeek

The Dragon Prince shines Bright

As I sat down to find something new to watch on Netflix while I was making my newest cosplay, I came across the new Netflix original series “The Dragon Prince.” Now, I know you may be thinking, “Isn’t that a children’s show?” In which case I would answer “Yes.” However, I didn’t leave my spot until I watched all nine episodes. It was that interesting to me. If your looking for a short series to kill time, use in the background, or something you want to watch but not have to think that much about, I would suggest “The Dragon Prince.” It’s cute, interesting, has a lot of action, and striking designs for 2D.⠀
Now “The Dragon Prince” is a fantasy adventure series where humans and, elves and dragons are at war with each other. Long ago, the humans, with the help of dark magic, chased off the elves and dragons after stealing their king’s egg and murdering the king. Now, the elves and dragons are ready for revenge.⠀
The series follows two young, human princes, Callum and Ezran, who don’t want to fight. On the other side, a young elf, Rayla, is just starting her career as an assassin but can’t bring herself to kill. Her and the two princes rally together after a mishap to find the king’s egg and return it to it’s mother.⠀
The creators of this series were Aaron Ehasz, who was also the head writer and director of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and Justin Richmond. They decided to create “The Dragon Prince” using similar 2D styles as “Avatar” but focus on more of the scenery and detailed designs. They also reduced the frame rate to give a different feel but after the series was released, many viewers left feedback saying it was distracting or even giving them a slight headache. The feedback was taken well, and the creators interviewed saying that if there will be a season 2, they will change up the quality of the series according to the feedback.⠀
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-MKAmethyst 

by WetheGeek

The Wizarding World Returns

So we’re slightly late to the party but that final trailer for the next fantastic beasts movie was full on amazing. ⠀
We got some stuff confirmed to us (like the woman from the original photo being Nagini is official). In retrospect we should have pretty much all just assumed the fact that snakes in the Harry Potter cannon are solely associated with at least the slytherin house, if not are totally evil. ⠀
What was probably the best part of the trailer for me was the fact that Jude Law made my little Harry Potter heart pitter patter. It was so cool to see the traits and quotes of the wizard we looked up to in the series be portrayed in this film as well. He has really mastered the Dumbledore charm and mystery and it is clear that he did his homework. For no other reason than him and my lovely newt will I see this film. ⠀
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I know for me at least it’s going to be one talked about for awhile. ⠀
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—Luna ⠀

by WetheGeek

PredaDONT!

I guess I should finally talk about the Predator. I’ll be completely honest. It’s not worth your time. Instead of you wasting your money and going and seeing it and me wasting my time writing a long review I’ll make this quick. ⠀
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It sucks. ⠀
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From poorly written characters and jokes to cheesy CGI. None of its good. You can’t see anything because it’s mostly filmed at night and the plot has more holes then there are dead bodies on screen. Don’t waste your money. Go watch the original. Or better yet Predators from 2010. That’s it. I’m not wasting anymore time on this bomb.⠀
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2/10 🤢🤢🤢⠀
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-RytheGeek