Snowpiercer 2013 7 out of 10 (Weird and interesting)

Snowpiercer 2013   7 out of 10

Going in totally Blind:  I knew absolutely nothing about this movie before watching it.  I had just heard in general that this was a Sci fi film worth checking out-  but for once I literally knew nothing about what I was going to watch at all.   I hadn't even seen the trailer so I was completely flying blind as to what this movie was about going in.  I just knew that it was Sci-fi and that Captain America (Chris Evans) was the star.  It is refreshing to go into a movie with no expectations at all.  --yet that didn't help me decide how I even felt about it.

The Plot:   The story is about a future where humanity has basically caused an ice age with their ill conceived attempts to avoid global warming.   One forward thinking inventor predicted this happening and built a super train called the Snowpiercer that continually travels around the globe.  The concept of the movie itself is pretty silly to buy into in the first place - but it you put the absurdity of the concept aside it makes for a strange and wonderful setting for a interesting and really strange film.  The train is basically a Noah's arc carrying what is left of society concept has been used before in many Sci-fi with a spacecraft carrying the last of humanity to a new world.

It took me sleeping on it to be able to nail down how I felt about it:

This was the odd kind of film that when you finish it you don't really know exactly how you feel about it.  

It was good -but not great. 

It was really interesting - but yet totally flawed.  

I wanted to go to the internet and find out how in the world it got a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes?   I'm a sci-fi fan and so I can see and understand what people really loved about it --yet I can't see the average person liking this film at all.   So I pulled up IMDB reviews to see what some other people thought....and reading some reviews there people were ripping it to shreds.  

Where do I fall on this film??  

My problems with the film:  

1.  The story itself was nonsensical.   Literally nothing about the movie makes logical sense from a reality based point of view.   I agree with one reviewer from Norway on IMDB that listed out at least 25 things that made no sense at all.  He is totally correct and if you look at this movie from any realistic point of view --the movie will be a failure for you.... I can totally see how some people love this movie and call it brilliant and other people think it is total crap.

2.  The film was a little on the long side.  It is never a good thing when you are watching a movie and feel the need to check and see how much longer you have to go to get to the end. That is probably the biggest factor in the film not getting a bigger rating from me.  It could have been about 25 minutes shorter.

3.  Watching this film ---I thought "I bet a book version of this  would be good"  Okay so that is actually kind of a compliment --but a backhanded one in that what I mean by that is that -- "The book is probably a lot better than the movie".

What I liked about it:

1.  The movie is totally bizarre and strange sci-fi.   I tend to like weird and interesting sci-fi movies where you don't exactly know what is really going on and this movie is definitely that.   If you are able to suspend your disbelief at the silly plot that has so many holes that it should derail this train ride --then there is definitely some excellent stuff to get out of the film.  In order to like this film you have to be able to completely throw out common sense and completely suspend your disbelief in what you are seeing.   Think of it as a comic book (it is based on a graphic novel after all)

If you get caught up in the trap of thinking  "That makes no sense"  or "that couldn't happen"  you will not like this film.

2.  Despite the concept of the train being so unrealistic--the train makes for a great setting for a story.   This is why I said a book version would  be great. The goal of the film of the lower class  at the back of the train fighting their way up the body of the train to the top not so subtle message about society.   The different sections of the train make for interesting and intriguing set pieces for the story.  The train setting also reinforced the notation of all the passengers --no matter which class being trapped on the train because of the claustrophobic nature of the train itself.  Like many sci-fi movie it was a look at society in an unusual setting.  The lower class at the end of the train dreamed of making their way to the front --while the passengers at the front lost themselves in overindulgent behavior --like drugs and parties.   It was definitely weird.   

3.  The main character played by Chris Evans --makes his way to the front of the train and its creator and basically finds out the many truths behind the train which I won't reveal in full because it would spoil things.   I felt at times like this movie was an episode of the old BBC series The Prisoner.   There is a definite --- "You are number 6"  vibe to the film.

Influences:  I personally saw a lot of  the Prisoner as a main influence for the film.   I can see other influences such as Hunger Games especially in Tilda Swinton's character which was just like less glamorous Effie in Hunger Games.  Metropolis is another influence that I've seen many people mention with tiny bit of Terry Gilliam thrown in as well.   In fact there was a character called Gilliam which I thought was a direct homage to him in the film (but I could be wrong). 

I would recommend this film to true sci-fi fans.

I would not recommend it to the average movie fan that

Here is the trailer

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Zombeavers 2014 5 out of 10 (contains Plot Spoilers)

Zombeavers 2014  5 out of 10   They are right you all will be Dammed!

Our Direct TV Box died so we were forced to plug in the Roku and see what was on Netflix.  We watched a Jim Gaffigan comedy special and then my wife fell asleep.   I wasn’t ready for bed  so when I saw that Zombeavers was finally out on Netflix  I decided it was Bad Movie time.

Three Sorority girls head up to a cabin by the lake for guys free weekend.  The place is so remote that their cell phones don't even work  (Dam).  Of Course the boys show up anyway and so do some Beavers that have been contaminated with some toxic chemicals that have turned them into Zombeavers.   Yes you heard that correctly Bloodthirsty Zombie Beavers!

The poster for this movie is great and the trailer makes it looks like a blast.  So Bad it is good right?   Not so fast.   Zombeavers is exactly as bad as it sounds.

The girls sunbath while the ominous beavers lurk beneath the surface of the water.  By ominous I mean some bad remote controlled beavers and hand puppets.  At night the girls try to relax in the cabin and hear a scary noise outside.  It just turns out to be the boys coming up to party.  Then just when the film is about to get good and the cute blond goes to take a shower she is attacked by an angry beaver  (Dam).  The next day for some unknown reason the group decides to go swimming in the lake. -because that is what you do after being attacked by a beaver).   Hey let's swim in the same lake that the crazy beaver must have come from.   The gang is attacked of course and tries to take refuge on a raft in the middle of the lake.  One of the guys decides to sacrifice the tiny dog that tries to outswim the remote controlled beavers with no success.   The gang makes it back to the cabin  (one missing his foot) where they try and hide out from the deranged beavers.   The hand puppet beavers attack the cabin.  A couple of people decide to make a run for it in the car that won’t start at first only to have the road blocked by a downed tree (Brilliant Zombie Beavers).    Then the movie decides that the ugly hand puppet beavers aren’t scary enough so there is a scene where the hot blonde that was attacked the night before goes to seduce the hot nerdy girl –only to turn into an angry mutant beaver girl (tail and all)  just when things are about to get good again.  (Dam)

Apparently this virus doesn’t just turn people into zombies---but Zombeavers as well (with big beaver teeth).   The rest of this bad film includes a whack a beaver scene as the beaver hand puppets break their way through the cabin floor.   The nerdy girl decides the bathroom is safe and that it is a good time to get it on with one of the guys and just when it is about to get good the blond beaver girl breaks through the wall and bites off his male body part  (Dam).     So we are left with the hot nerdy girl in brad and panties and the other girl taking off in a truck trying to escape.  

If only this movie was ¼ as good as the poster –or half as good as the trailer. All the good beaver jokes are in the trailer.

Oh well I knew what I was getting into.  How good could a movie called Zombeavers really be.

Watch the trailer  Skip the movie ---unless you are desperate for some bad angry beaver action.

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Dumb and Dumber 2 2014 5 out of 10 (Just Dumber)

Dumb and Dumber 2  --Just Dumber  5 out of 10 2014

I loved the original Dumb and Dumber.    I was looking foward to a sequel---but it just felt like they waited too long to do it.  For some reason this Dumb and Dumber Sequel --just seemed dumber.

The original movie never got a sequel because Jim Carrey was too big at the time. He had too many projects in the works and was getting 20 million a movie and didn't need to be in a sequel.   Well 20 years later Jim Carrey isn't in as high a demand and so the studios figured ---the time was right to do a sequel.

Well I guess they were wrong.   My wife turned to me while watching the movie and said "This is just stupid"....  and as much as I wanted to argue with her -I couldn't.   It just wasn't the same even though it was exactly the same.    Maybe that was the problem??  It was exactly the same...there was nothing new or nothing worth discovering with these characters and there return to the big screen.

It was too little too late.  The jokes fell flat and there were only a few moments where I even cracked a smile while watching it.

It felt like I was watching a bunch of bad outakes from the original film.  The stuff that would have been cut out of the first film.   Or maybe I've just matured and don't find this dumb humor funny any more (No that can't be it ).  I really can't explain why I didn't like it. The type of jokes were literally the same.  The Plot of the movie was pretty much the same.  It was like watching  a remake that is so much the same that there is absolutely nothing new to get out of it.

  Dumb and Dumber 2 was just that Dumber and unecessary.  

My opinion --watch the Trailer which has all of the best scenes and skip the movie.

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Random Star Wars Pictures of the Week: As we count down to the Force Awakens

A little over 200 days until the Force Awakens.  With unconfirmed Rumors of a Boba Fett movie and my head still spinning from the Rogue One teaser from Celebration---- Star Wars Celebration seems to be fading into memory and the new era of Star Wars draws closer everyday. 

Here is my random Star Wars Pictures of the Week from Celebration.

A Female Mando with Bossk in Carbonite

The Convention Bar Scene

Ashley Eckstein from the Rebels Red Carpet

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More random Star Wars Pictures of the Week next week as we countdown to the Force Awakens.   

Avengers : Age of Ultron 2015 10 out of 10

Avengers: Age of Ultron 2015 10 out of 10


Does anyone remember back in 1980 when Superman had to fight the three villains lead by General Zod at the end of the film. 
 It seemed so epic at the time.   I mean Superman was facing 3 powered individuals at the same time and a bus was overturned.   What more could we ask for???  


 Avengers: Age of Ultron is what we could ask for.  The opening sequence was a little too CGI and felt like one of the scenes in the jungle from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, that everyone hated .  In Avengers it worked perfectly.  I know that this film isn't going to feel or look realistic and quite frankly it doesn't need to.   It is comic book adaptation about a bunch of super powered heroes saving the world.  It doesn't need to feel real like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark -because there is a guy flying around holding a magical hammer. 

  Avengers: Age of Ultron was like watching that cool ending of Superman 2 in 1980 for 2 solid hours. Joss Whedon was again able to balance a large group of super heroes and give them all something to do in a thrilling story.  

The Story
  The story itself was solid with the Avengers having to save the world from something that they unwittingly unleashed themselves (okay so it is basically Bruce Banner and Iron Man's fault).  Ultron is  an Artificial intelligence that did what all artificial intelligences do in movies, goes crazy and decides humanity needs to be wiped out. The Avengers must pull together before they pull each other apart in order to save the day.  

The Action
The action was completely over the top and amazing all at once.  It was a non-stop roller coaster ride.  The action sequences popped off the screen like frames of a comic book. It was a ludicrous display of epic unbelievable action that could only be in a comic book movie.

The Cast

The cast once again was excellent including all the cameos from characters from the Avengers solo movies.  I credit this to Joss Whedon's excellent writing and his time on shows like Buufy and Firefly.  One of my favorite scenes in the movie wasn't even one of the amazing action sequences-  but instead the scene at the party --where everyone took turns trying to lift Thor's Hammer.  This scene was a perfect mix of humor and the interactions between the cast in this scene was excellent.  The look on Thor's face when Captain America was able to almost move it was priceless and at the end of that light moment of humor the villain surfaces to completely change the mood.  Whedon is able to get his cast to work so well together --a skill he honed on all of his hit TV shows.  It is the character's interactions and dialogue with each other that makes this movie a 10 out of 10

The Agents of Shield Factor

Being a Joss Whedon fan I've been following along with the TV show Agents of Shield.  The show has had an excellent Season 2 after a kind of slow start to Season 1.  The show has been clicking on all cylinders lately and the episode last week lead directly into this movie in the same way that the aftermath of Captain America: Winter Solider effected it last year.   Watching this show and its direct lead into Avengers made both the movie and the show better.  This week the show picked up right where the movie left off and had a thrilling episode that leads into a 2 hour finale next week.  It is all connected and the connections that Marvel has been making have turned me into a huge fan of the MCU.

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Random Star Wars Picture of the week: Which Jedi doesn't belong in this picture

Saw this random photo op while walking by the Falcon area at Star Wars Celebration.    Which Jedi doesn't belong in this picture?