Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Tuesday's With Movies: 5/14/13
Monday, May 13, 2013
Reaction: Survivor Caramoan
I don't recap all of the Survivor shows that I watch, and honestly, it takes either something amazing happening to get me to write something - or a pretty fun season.
I think here it was the latter. The season was pretty fun. It might have been an added bonus that this was the first time I played a Survivor elimination game to add a little more fun to it - and I thank those involved for allowing me to participate (I learned more as I went, and think I will play much differently next time).
There are a lot of people out there that absolutely hate that some players continue to get the opportunity to play the game. And that is fine, I have a few things in this show that I cannot stand (the 3-person finale for instance - more on this later), but I really enjoy former contestants coming back and competing.
Do I think they for some reason bring back 'favorites' that I really wouldn't consider favorites? Yes, absolutely. Phillip and Brandon were both crazy characters - but were they actually anyone's favorites? For the life of me I could not remember which season Brenda was from - when I saw her she was familiar to me, but I couldn't really remember her - that being said I felt she was a fun player and deserved being there. (at some point I think I will go back and see exactly which 18-20 players from past seasons I would like to see again).
Anyway, having returning favorites back on the show really makes the first handful of episodes worth watching. I really like the Fans vs. Favorites idea - All-Stars was great too, but I like the idea of having new participants as well. And, as we get to know the new participants, we can follow and enjoy those we already know (if we do in fact know/remember them).
OK, on to the show.
Out of the favorites that were returning I really loved the idea of Erik returning. He got his start on the original Fans vs. Favorites season - and for him to return as a favorite on the next edition was a pretty cool idea. Plus, I actually liked him during his first run - but he was young, naive and definitely made one of the biggest mistakes in Survivor history by giving up his immunity. So, I was interested in seeing how he would do again - and from the start I thought he was on the outside of the favorites tribe. But, he managed to stick around and was right there in the end.
Until...
After what I thought was a horrible decision by Dawn to vote out Brenda at tribal council - the woman who found your teeth for you and sat and calmed you down during all 200 of your breakdowns, plus you asked her to jump down in the immunity challenge to give it to you - pretty much guaranteeing her that she was not going home. Then, stabbed her in the back. I know it's a game - but that was one of the harshest moves I have seen in this game. Just really cold-blooded.
But, we were teased that someone was getting pulled from the game in last week's preview - and my fear was realized when Erik was pulled for 'starvation' symptoms. So mad, I honestly felt he might have had a chance (oh, I picked him to win in my pool - so that added to my frustration).
In the end, I think Cochran made the right move. He had the option of bringing either Dawn or Eddie into the final three with himself and Sherri. Dawn did have the six children, sweet as can be mother angle to play - but the way she played really angered people, especially after she eliminated Brenda. Eddie, though he played the dumb guy, did a lot in the game to keep himself in it - from the very start he and Reynold were on the outs and they made it very far. Eddie had at least two votes in Malcolm and Reynold on the jury, and he may have even had Andrea and Erik as well. So, do you take that chance?
Finally, I was OK with the way Brenda reacted. She was very upset with Dawn after becoming so close to her on the island. And, she was right - if she hadn't gotten into that water and saved Dawn's teeth, I think Dawn would have pulled herself. So, she wanted her to prove that she would have stayed. If she hadn't saved her teeth, that is what everyone would have seen for weeks if Dawn would have decided to stay - so I see no problem with it. Ruthless? Absolutely.
Now, back to the three-person finale. My memory on this is horrible, but has the third person in the finale ever been worthy of being there? Have they ever even come close to winning or receiving a few votes?
I have always felt the best is to have a two-person finale. Not only is it down to two, but in the end on the final vote before the jury - the person with immunity must choose who they want to sit next to, which is a huge decision that could help or hurt them.
Sherri in the finale was despicable. Her plea to the jury by saying she was a successful business woman with 75 employees, and that she wanted to treat the other contestants as her employees? Yeah, that helped her cause. She did nothing throughout the entire game - and she was hardly mentioned once during the jury questions (though she snapped at Erik, that certainly was going to help her) and wasn't asked one question at the reunion show. Even though she technically tied for second.
In the end, I feel the correct person won. Even though Phillip was so flamboyant and out there, I always felt like Cochran was the mastermind behind everything. He stayed calm (and held back his laughter) when speaking with Phillip and, for the most part, steered him in the direction he wanted him to go.
If this were any other season I would have been wishing for Cochran to win - and in the end I still feel OK that he won. Because I had voted for, and liked Erik so much, I was really pulling for him to win. And, if he had got to the final with Cochran - I don't think Cochran would have won 8-0. But, I think he still should have won.
And with that, another season is over. Looking forward to the next installment in the fall.
I think here it was the latter. The season was pretty fun. It might have been an added bonus that this was the first time I played a Survivor elimination game to add a little more fun to it - and I thank those involved for allowing me to participate (I learned more as I went, and think I will play much differently next time).
There are a lot of people out there that absolutely hate that some players continue to get the opportunity to play the game. And that is fine, I have a few things in this show that I cannot stand (the 3-person finale for instance - more on this later), but I really enjoy former contestants coming back and competing.
Do I think they for some reason bring back 'favorites' that I really wouldn't consider favorites? Yes, absolutely. Phillip and Brandon were both crazy characters - but were they actually anyone's favorites? For the life of me I could not remember which season Brenda was from - when I saw her she was familiar to me, but I couldn't really remember her - that being said I felt she was a fun player and deserved being there. (at some point I think I will go back and see exactly which 18-20 players from past seasons I would like to see again).
Anyway, having returning favorites back on the show really makes the first handful of episodes worth watching. I really like the Fans vs. Favorites idea - All-Stars was great too, but I like the idea of having new participants as well. And, as we get to know the new participants, we can follow and enjoy those we already know (if we do in fact know/remember them).
OK, on to the show.
Out of the favorites that were returning I really loved the idea of Erik returning. He got his start on the original Fans vs. Favorites season - and for him to return as a favorite on the next edition was a pretty cool idea. Plus, I actually liked him during his first run - but he was young, naive and definitely made one of the biggest mistakes in Survivor history by giving up his immunity. So, I was interested in seeing how he would do again - and from the start I thought he was on the outside of the favorites tribe. But, he managed to stick around and was right there in the end.
Until...
After what I thought was a horrible decision by Dawn to vote out Brenda at tribal council - the woman who found your teeth for you and sat and calmed you down during all 200 of your breakdowns, plus you asked her to jump down in the immunity challenge to give it to you - pretty much guaranteeing her that she was not going home. Then, stabbed her in the back. I know it's a game - but that was one of the harshest moves I have seen in this game. Just really cold-blooded.
But, we were teased that someone was getting pulled from the game in last week's preview - and my fear was realized when Erik was pulled for 'starvation' symptoms. So mad, I honestly felt he might have had a chance (oh, I picked him to win in my pool - so that added to my frustration).
In the end, I think Cochran made the right move. He had the option of bringing either Dawn or Eddie into the final three with himself and Sherri. Dawn did have the six children, sweet as can be mother angle to play - but the way she played really angered people, especially after she eliminated Brenda. Eddie, though he played the dumb guy, did a lot in the game to keep himself in it - from the very start he and Reynold were on the outs and they made it very far. Eddie had at least two votes in Malcolm and Reynold on the jury, and he may have even had Andrea and Erik as well. So, do you take that chance?
Finally, I was OK with the way Brenda reacted. She was very upset with Dawn after becoming so close to her on the island. And, she was right - if she hadn't gotten into that water and saved Dawn's teeth, I think Dawn would have pulled herself. So, she wanted her to prove that she would have stayed. If she hadn't saved her teeth, that is what everyone would have seen for weeks if Dawn would have decided to stay - so I see no problem with it. Ruthless? Absolutely.
Now, back to the three-person finale. My memory on this is horrible, but has the third person in the finale ever been worthy of being there? Have they ever even come close to winning or receiving a few votes?
I have always felt the best is to have a two-person finale. Not only is it down to two, but in the end on the final vote before the jury - the person with immunity must choose who they want to sit next to, which is a huge decision that could help or hurt them.
Sherri in the finale was despicable. Her plea to the jury by saying she was a successful business woman with 75 employees, and that she wanted to treat the other contestants as her employees? Yeah, that helped her cause. She did nothing throughout the entire game - and she was hardly mentioned once during the jury questions (though she snapped at Erik, that certainly was going to help her) and wasn't asked one question at the reunion show. Even though she technically tied for second.
In the end, I feel the correct person won. Even though Phillip was so flamboyant and out there, I always felt like Cochran was the mastermind behind everything. He stayed calm (and held back his laughter) when speaking with Phillip and, for the most part, steered him in the direction he wanted him to go.
If this were any other season I would have been wishing for Cochran to win - and in the end I still feel OK that he won. Because I had voted for, and liked Erik so much, I was really pulling for him to win. And, if he had got to the final with Cochran - I don't think Cochran would have won 8-0. But, I think he still should have won.
And with that, another season is over. Looking forward to the next installment in the fall.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Theater Review: G.I. Joe: Retaliation
The first film in this franchise probably didn't live up to the hype surrounding it, despite having such great star power involved. But, it was still enjoyable - despite the fact that Cobra Commander didn't look like the Cobra Commander we all hoped.
So, G.I. Joe: Retaliation was a semi-reboot, but still tied up loose ends that were left from the first film. Missing were Sienna Miller (Baroness), Rachel Nichols (Scarlett), Dennis Quaid (General Hawk), Marlon Wayans (Ripcord), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Heavy Duty) and Said Taghmaoui (Breaker).
Returning to the film as characters, but with different actors were Destro and Cobra Commander, so Christopher Eccleston and Joseph Gordon-Levitt did not return.
The only characters returning with the same actors were, Jonathan Pryce as the US President, Arnold Vosloo as Zartan, Ray Park as Snake Eyes, Byung-hun Lee as Storm Shadow and Channing Tatum as Duke.
The threat, however, remains the same - Zartan has taken over as the President, and no one knows it yet. He has framed the Joes for stealing nuclear warheads and has sent a strike team to destroy them - including their leader Duke.
As the dust settles, only Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) and Flint (D.J. Cotrona) were able to survive after jumping into a nearby well.
Storm Shadow and newcomer Firefly (Ray Stevenson) have located where Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey) and Destro are being held - and gets himself taken prisoner in order to break them out - though in the end, Cobra Commander decides against freeing Destro. Storm Shadow, though, is injured from a blast and goes to a temple to recover.
Snake Eyes and his new apprentice Jinx (Elodie Yung) set out to the temple to capture Storm Shadow and bring him back to Blind Master (RZA) to answer for the death of Hard Master.
Meanwhile, Roadbloack, Flint and Lady Jaye try stop the impostor President who is blackmailing other nations into submitting to him and his new weapon of mass destruction - which he uses as to destroy London. For help, Roadblock takes them to retired and original Joe - Joe Colton (Bruce Willis).
I have heard the grumblings - and by the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, critics have let it be known that this is not a good film.
But, I feel it may be the perfect film. The perfect film to kickoff the summer.
Summer is about explosions, stupid one-liners and beautiful people. It usually isn't about the best script, or even the best actors. It's is mostly about having fun. And, G.I. Joe: Retaliation was fun.
I had a few complaints - for instance, killing off Duke. Now sure they can figure out someway to pretend he wasn't dead, but at the end of this film he was. Channing Tatum may not be an amazing actor, though I have come to enjoy some of his work, but he has become a start. And, unless you intend on bringing him back from the dead, he is now gone from this franchise. Which, may not have been the best idea. Even those characters from the first film can still return - they were not killed.
Second, RZA is a terrible actor. The scenes with him instructing Snake Eyes had to be the most painful to watch. They could have easily gotten someone else - someone way better to play that role.
Finally, the mountain-side fight featuring Snake Eyes was absolutely amazing to watch. And, Cobra Commander actually somewhat looked like Cobra Commander - I just wish Gordon-Levitt had returned.
So, yes I liked this movie. It was fun. If you don't like fun movies - why are you watching them? If you want to watch Oscar-nominated movies alone, you have that right. But, don't continue to blast these summer popcorn flicks - what the hell are you expecting them to be like?
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Returning to the film as characters, but with different actors were Destro and Cobra Commander, so Christopher Eccleston and Joseph Gordon-Levitt did not return.
The only characters returning with the same actors were, Jonathan Pryce as the US President, Arnold Vosloo as Zartan, Ray Park as Snake Eyes, Byung-hun Lee as Storm Shadow and Channing Tatum as Duke.
(Spoilers of both films are involved)
As the dust settles, only Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) and Flint (D.J. Cotrona) were able to survive after jumping into a nearby well.
Storm Shadow and newcomer Firefly (Ray Stevenson) have located where Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey) and Destro are being held - and gets himself taken prisoner in order to break them out - though in the end, Cobra Commander decides against freeing Destro. Storm Shadow, though, is injured from a blast and goes to a temple to recover.
Snake Eyes and his new apprentice Jinx (Elodie Yung) set out to the temple to capture Storm Shadow and bring him back to Blind Master (RZA) to answer for the death of Hard Master.
Meanwhile, Roadbloack, Flint and Lady Jaye try stop the impostor President who is blackmailing other nations into submitting to him and his new weapon of mass destruction - which he uses as to destroy London. For help, Roadblock takes them to retired and original Joe - Joe Colton (Bruce Willis).
I have heard the grumblings - and by the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, critics have let it be known that this is not a good film.
But, I feel it may be the perfect film. The perfect film to kickoff the summer.
Summer is about explosions, stupid one-liners and beautiful people. It usually isn't about the best script, or even the best actors. It's is mostly about having fun. And, G.I. Joe: Retaliation was fun.
I had a few complaints - for instance, killing off Duke. Now sure they can figure out someway to pretend he wasn't dead, but at the end of this film he was. Channing Tatum may not be an amazing actor, though I have come to enjoy some of his work, but he has become a start. And, unless you intend on bringing him back from the dead, he is now gone from this franchise. Which, may not have been the best idea. Even those characters from the first film can still return - they were not killed.
Second, RZA is a terrible actor. The scenes with him instructing Snake Eyes had to be the most painful to watch. They could have easily gotten someone else - someone way better to play that role.
Finally, the mountain-side fight featuring Snake Eyes was absolutely amazing to watch. And, Cobra Commander actually somewhat looked like Cobra Commander - I just wish Gordon-Levitt had returned.
So, yes I liked this movie. It was fun. If you don't like fun movies - why are you watching them? If you want to watch Oscar-nominated movies alone, you have that right. But, don't continue to blast these summer popcorn flicks - what the hell are you expecting them to be like?
Grade:
Tuesday's With Movies: 5/7/13
Monday, May 6, 2013
Quick Shots 23 Part II
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee, T.J. Miller, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Dunn.
Brief Synopsis: Rookie Will (Pine) is joining veteran railroad worker Frank (Washington) to pick up and deliver a shipment. Meanwhile, Dewey (Suplee) and Gilleece (Miller) accidentally let a train get away from them with no driver - setting up a thrill ride to try and figure out how to stop the train before it gets to a largely populated area.
Opinion: This was pretty darn fun. You pretty much know what you are going to get from Washington now, but Pine is still somewhat of a new commodity - and so far he has done a great job. And, even though his role was small, anytime you can get Kevin Corrigan in a film I am going to love his character. He is great. Pretty exciting film, and also pretty hard to believe that something like it could actually happen.
Grade:
Starring: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Wood Harris, Warrick Grier.
Brief Synopsis: In a future United States, most of what is left is a wasteland. Not just police officers, but law enforcers are now judge, jury and executioners depending on how they see it. A new drug called 'slo-mo' is introduced and after Judge Dredd (Urban) and his new partner Cassandra Anderson (Thirlby) find a couple of dead bodies and decide to check out the slum tower known as Peach Trees, which is ruled by drug lord Ma-Ma (Headey).
Opinion: Wow, a non-stop thrill ride. I was really hoping to check out the original Judge Dredd before I watched this one, but I had heard so many good things that I just decided to check out the new one. And, it was a great action flick. Urban was great as Dredd, and my first real introduction to Thirlby - even though I have apparently seen her a handful of times before. She was just more of a standout here.
Grade:
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Nan Yu.
Brief Synopsis: Church (Willis) has returned to force Barney (Stallone) to retrieve an item from a plane that has crashed in Albania and sends along tech expert Maggie (Nan). Barney pulls up his Expendables crew and has no problems tracking down the item. But, Billy (Hemsworth) is captured by Jean Vilain (Van Damme) and his crew - which forces Barney to hand over the retrieved item. The rest of the film, the Expendables look for revenge on Vilain and his crew, and look to retrieve the stolen item.
Opinion: In the first film, I was just happy to see some of the old guys - Stallone and Lundgren for the most part - but the film itself wasn't exceptional, though it was still enjoyable. This one, though, I felt was much better and more of a fun ride. Plus, seeing Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger shooting their guns side-by-side was just amazing to see. Looking forward to the next installment.
Grade:
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, D.B. Sweeney, Luke Grimes.
Brief Synopsis: Bryan Mills (Neeson) and his daughter, Kim (Grace), are still trying to recover from the events that happened in the first film. But, apparently so are the families of those that Mills killed trying to recover his kidnapped daughter. And, they are out to kidnap the family again and make Mills suffer like they did.
Opinion: As much as I was still into this film, I don't think they caught the lightning that they did during the first film. Something in that one just mesmerized a lot of people - including Neeson's delivery over the phone of that one conversation with the kidnappers. The first film was centered around Grace's character, but she wasn't as involved as she was here - though I liked her, she may have held Neeson back a bit. Not sure, but I liked the first one better.
Grade:
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