MOVIES- During my unintentional hiatus from the internet I've been excited, seen, been impressed by and been disappointed in a bunch of movies. Let's see if I can remember all of them. Let's begin with:
The Dark Knight Rises:
Totally loved it. Visually impressive, almost on the same scale on Inception. Tom Hardy might be my new man-crush. (I can't believe I just said that. WAIT, YES I CAN. TOM HARDY IS FUCKING BADASS!!!) Twist ending ties the series together in a nice, neat bow. Don't care about all the hate on the twist; to me, it makes sense. And yes, it fits within Nolan's biggest pitfall of a plot device. But when you watch all three movies in a row, it all works out. Like it. Alot.
DC Animated Universe direct-to-DVD films:
Consistently good, to say the least. Even with characters I'm not that accustomed to like Captain Marvel (of the series Shazam!) and Green Lantern. Can't wait to get home (more on that later) to see The Dark Knight Returns Part II.
Silver Linings Playbook:
Best movie I've seen all year. Semi-random date movie that impressed both the wife and I. Touching without being corny. David O. Russel has been upping his game the last few years. Hope to see more great movies outta him.
The Perks of Being A Wallflower:
It was waaaaaay better than I expected. B to A grade acting jobs across the board for the high school portion of the cast. Felt like a mix between The Breakfast Club and Dazed and Confused (75% BC/25% DC). Best coming of age comedy I've seen since Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.
Wait... You don't know what film I'm talking about? GO FIND IT. FIND IT AND WATCH IT. NOW!
Rushmore:
Yeah, yeah; I know. Haven't seen it before, what's wrong with me? All that jazz. WELL, I have now. And I gotta say... it's aged well. I can see where a bunch of comedies have gotten inspiration from. Judd Apatow owes Wes Anderson a great deal seeing as how Apatow has seemingly adapted Anderson's themes and made them relatable; Judd rakes in the cash and Anderson continues to make transcendent, awkward, almost artsy comedies. Rushmore stands the test of time because it was original, like if David Lynch made a comedy. Schwartzman's coming out party and Murray's career-renaissance combined makes the picture perfect team. Wish I had seen it sooner in life.
(P.S. That's not a dig on Apatow, his movies aren't rips, their like the accessible version of Anderson's films. Anderson is for on-set-hipsters and Apatow is for frat boys trying to grow up.)
ANIME- Been trying to find the perfect anime to meld into again like I first did with Neon Genesis Evangellion. Haven't found one since The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Let's recap what I've been watching.
Bubblegum Crisis and it's subsequent spin-offs:
Wow. This was a groundbreaking anime in its time but it hasn't aged well. Kinda like watching DBZ now and them watching the streamlined Dragon Ball Z Kai. Bubblegum Crisis has, at times, a "crisis" of identities. (See what I did there? Keyuck!) Most of the time it's a well put together anime homage to Blade Runner, other times it wants you to buy its voice actress' J-pop single filled OST. This is the 80's at its worst/best. Seriously, the first fucking episode starts out with a terrible 80's grrl band mashed together mock-up of "Rock You Like A Hurricane" and "Big City Nights," but sounds NOTHING LIKE EITHER. The animation is above average for the time period. It's definitely episodic in nature because you feel like the characters are getting close to discovering something yet you never truly feel they even know what they're looking for. After the series abruptly ends (Its like watching Firefly all over again, except 60% less awesome), there's a prequel and sequel that come years after the original's parent company goes under (I think, I could be wrong. It's a bit muddy from my perspective). The prequel is about the AD Police for whom the Knight Sabers (the girl group heroes of the original) are always doing their job for them in BGC. The A.D. Police are about as effective at fighting off the Boomers (human-like androids who go berserk /Without Fail/ every episode) as the LAPD were at calming down the L.A. Riots. The sequel is what would have been the final episodes of BGC. Although more polished art-wise, the three episodes on this OVA feel rushed to an extent (hate to use this reference twice to describe this series, but its not unlike watching Serenity right after a Firefly marathon). Better quality, just wish there was more of it. Plus, no more shoehorned J-pop! YAY!
(Reason I even thought to watch this? The city that the series takes part in is the namesake of one of my favorite web-comics of all time. That's right, MegaTokyo!)
Green Green:
Oh, my god. You have to see it to believe it. This series is, as I once described to my brother, "The Room of anime." So bad it's hilarious. Imagine, if you will, a world where a boys school is hidden up in the mountains. A girls school visits for a month-long trial period to determine if the student bodies could handle co-existing. (I just read that line, laughed, and realized what kind of review I've gotten myself into.) So, as you can imagine, teenage boys whom have been kept away from contact with females are now having a co-ed existence thrust upon them (What is wrong with me today? XD). Can you believe this series wasn't a hentai? If it was, I wouldn't have blinked. Alas, this is as far as anime goes towards being porn without actually BEING porn. And its oh-so-bad. A group of male characters *from now on shall be referred to as the Three Perverts or TP (I think I might accidentally kill myself writing this review)* decide that NOW is the only time in their LIVES that they can lose their virginities and thus must make every attempt to win over and woo the hearts of their dream girls. Only problem? These guys think being vulgar, perverted and down right creepy is actually going to work in their favor in getting laid. For instance, TP1 (the sad attempt at being charming one) decides to dress snazzy for his chance encounter with a girl whom he could fuck. Problem is, he looks silly as hell. Overgrown necklace and fake lapel rose? Dude thinks the Flavor Flav approach to dating actually works! TP2 (the one with a "little sister" complex/the
(Three possible turn-a-phrase's that could be misconstrued as being sleazy. I love me some me right now)
More of this including TV SHOWS, WRESTLING, and SPORTS coming in the next post.
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