Thought Wad

Dark Knight Rises

2012-07-19T12:38:00.001+10:00

It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.

The Dark Knight Rises opens on the 6 minute prologue seen at conventions around the world in the past year and gives the start of Rises the same awe-inspiring feeling we were given after the Joker's bank robbery prologue in Dark Knight, at the same time introducing the world to the meanest and toughest of all the bat-foes, Bane. Christopher Nolan's Bane, unlike the camp 1997 Joel Schumacher incarnation, is no campy Lucha Libre, he is the back breaking, hard-as-nail Bane, that fans love to hate and newcomers will learn to fear.

Nolan's expert writing and distinct directorial style are evident from the first frame, with the pace slow enough to explore the world and deepen the audiences interest but still with a rhythm that draws us in and moves us along. This makes for a unique comic book adaptation that plays out more like a deep character piece rather than an action extravaganza. The antithesis to Marvel's The Avengers, Rises is a gritty, realistic look into the heart of darkness within the human psyche and draws us in with its questions of morality, loyalty, family, friendship and civic duty, all wrapped up in billionaire Bruce Wayne's search for what it truly means to be a hero.

With some jarring audio and visual edits during the first act, the uncomfortable feeling of Bruce's recluse lifestyle is truly felt as we are taken on a journey of self-rediscovery and reflection. Christian Bale once again delivers an outstanding performance as the conflicted playboy trying to avenge his parents and protect his city. Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, whilst sexy in that Anne Hathaway style, delivers more of the nuanced subtleties that make the Batman / Catwoman dynamic the most unique and interesting love story of the DC universe. But the stand out role was most definitely Tom Hardy portraying this new and unique take on Batman's greatest foe, Bane. With the mask never coming off, and the super ability for Tom to emote everything with his eyes, the struggle of a man fulfilling the wishes of his true love and fighting for a twisted view on whats right is truly felt, and for one, as an audience member I connected with and really felt.

Nolan presents a great understanding of Bob Kane's source material as well as the numerous iterations of the Dark Knight that have followed since the birth of the caped crusader, interweaving numerous story-lines from across time and various incarnations of the Batman, to bring a well rounded conclusion to his operatic and almost Shakespearian trilogy, showing true fans that appreciating and respecting the original source doesn't necessarily mean sticking to it's canon verbatim.

With a great score to enhance the brilliant writing, stellar performances and explosive action set pieces, Dark Knight Rises is a must see for any fan of cinema, comic books, great filmmaking or anyone who likes to be entertained............. And don't let the 3 hour runtime intimidate you, as it flys by and leaves you wanting more by the films surprising (yet, when one thinks about it in retrospect, logical) conclusion, to what at this point in our history is not only the best film adaptation of Batman on film, but the most well rounded trilogy since the original Star Wars trinity.

All in all Dark Knight Rises is the ultimate closure on a saga that has left all of us wanting more, inspired, and in awe of what can be done on film. Sadly, in Nolan's own words, "there will be no more Batman from me, I'm just not doing it!".

As for me, I'm happy that at least Nolan hit me with a battarang of one last hurrah for the Dark Knight.

Will we see Batman in the upcoming Justice League Film? Who will play him? Will make us feel the same? We'll have to find out at a different bat-time on a different bat-station.

Dark Knight Rises gets a 5 out of 5 film reels.

2012-07-04T12:34:00.004+10:00

**This Review Contains Spoilers**

The Amazing Spiderman

With opening credits almost identical to Sam Raimis, I thought this film might build on the great work he did with Spidey 1 & 2 (NOT 3) and really flesh out the bigger stories from such a well loved canon.

Maybe a reboot wasn't necessary but this film works on some levels but not on others. The direction was good, not great. The performances where at times a little mixed, with Stone's Gwen Stacy going from self confident, strong, she-woman to doting high schooler in a matter of 2 cuts, whilst Garfield's performance can be described as a great Spiderman and an average Peter Parker. The story took a little too long for my liking to get to the Spiderman section and once there seemed to move too fast across the Dr Connors story, cramming in flashbacks of Peters' past wherever it could. I can see the setup for the 2 more films Marc Webb has mentioned that will fill in the years from the disappearance of Peters' parents to the present and whatever back story that will provide, but wish more time had been spent on actually fleshing out the newly rebooted world we are going to have to live in rather than so quickly brush over plot points to rush us to the end (eg. Peter just outs himself as Spiderman to Gwen, Gwen's father and some random little kid).

One of the biggest issues I have with this origin story is that Peter learns some major lessons that make him the Spiderman we know and love from some of the early defining moments we know from the comics, and these never happen in this film. Peter never gets uncle Ben's killer, he never spends the time creating his costume (with the various incarnations) and he never learns his greatest lesson.......

With great power comes great responsibility and revealing his identity to everyone on the street really takes away from the whole secret identity thing. Having just spent my weekend at OzComicCon with Stan Lee (who makes a great cameo as usual) also gave me an extra sense of excitement to see the film and all in all I was a tiny bit disappointed with the "re-imagined" origin story and the brushed over character growth. The one thing that did save this movie for me though was the great use of first person photography and 3D to really make you feel like you are Spiderman swinging through the streets of Manhattan (although the last shot of the film was 3D cheese at its best).

Lets hope future outings in this new Spidey-verse will make up for the lackluster performance of this one. Until then, Dark Knight Rises will have to fulfil my superhero needs.

The Amazing Spiderman gets 3 out of 5 reels.

Lady Gaga Sydney - June 23rd 2012

2012-06-23T21:13:00.001+10:00

Like a hyper modern, super sexual version of Rocky Horror Picture Show, Lady Gaga burst onto the stage like a sexual xenomorph giving the crowd everything it wanted including a bad romance!!

After the political interlude crying she is no animal of our government, Gaga appeased the audience with the promise of loving ones self through the happiness and love of being born the way you are!

With the theme of an Alien invading our shores, it's easy to see why some see Gaga as a fringe entity, but those at her concert, and with their eyes open, might see her as a genius that only other genii can really see.
Above the pop music and incredible set design lay a stronger motive of using pop culture and mediocre music to control the masses, invading the minds of the crowd and leading them towards her ultimate destination..... Immortality through stardom.

While the concert bore no new fruit by way of song, hearing the hits and seeing the performance to go with them made for a feast both visual and auditory.

By far, the most inviting stage performer I've ever seen, Gaga had no reservation inviting all her "little monsters" as she puts it, backstage, making for some super happy fans!

All in all it was a fun night out and one I'm glad I saw. Not being a die-hard fan though would leave me with the satisfaction of having seen the madness that is Lady Gaga and allow me to move on.

A good concert with uber-sexual birthings from beginning to end. 4 out of 5!

Prometheus

2012-06-15T10:18:00.002+10:00

*WARNING REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

PROMETHEUS

So Ridley Scott may have said its 'definitely not a prequel to Alien', but it's at least set in that universe and involves events some time before the crew of the Nostromo first encountered the Xenomorph that's returned several times in the classic film franchise.

As such, Prometheus - the name of the space ship - has been awaited eagerly by fans and will be judged accordingly.

Elements from the original Alien film are scattered throughout, like easter eggs on a DVD, but you don't need to recognise them to enjoy this as a work in its own right. Anyone expecting answers to questions arriving from its predecessor will have to wait; Ridley says there will have to be at least two more films to fill the gap between the end of this film and the start of Alien.

Taken as its own entity, Prometheus is certainly a great summer action / sci-fi flick, grandly designed, that attempts to raise questions as profound as where do we come from, but it's not subtle; after an initial throw away comment from one character who's just "in it for the money" and Theron's pronouncement that her agenda does not involve contact with any aliens (which begs the unanswered question of why her company has financed a mission to meet our maker), geologists, biologists and archeologists alike are more likely to spout philosophy than discuss their everyday lives.

Where there is complexity to the characters, is through the normal Lindelof writing and many of the supporting roles are drawn so slightly that we neither know them nor care whether they make it home alive. And by virtue of being an android with no feelings, Fassbender's David is necessarily blank, but at times is the most likeable and relatable character in the film. But he's not the only one whose motivations are unclear.

In terms of the micro-plot, rather than the universe itself, too much is left unexplained - while at more than two hours, it doesn't feel overlong, it does feel like a few scenes were left on the cutting room floor that could have helped us make more sense of what's going on. With many sub-plots and story lines, some arcs feel left unfinished or unsatisfied, but maybe we will have to wait for the 1 or 2 follow up films that Ridley has talked about to get the full picture.

Ridley Scott is a veteran of the genre so he knows how to generate tension and build an atmosphere, but while he does this effectively, he also deflates the mood with some old and worn cliches, characters vaulting across widening chasms just in time or trying to escape a threat by running away in the direction it's travelling, when they could simply step aside into safety.

Elsewhere, you find such foibles as a character having no problem reaching somewhere we later discover that the only way out is to abseil and a woman jealously guarding a possession we are later told was designed exclusively for men.

How Prometheus will eventually fit into the franchise can't be judged, as we don't yet know whether the dots will ever be joined - and if so, by whom. But as things stand, it's not an especially rewarding chapter to the bigger story. Trailers involving a recognisable Guy Pearce (rather than under tonnes of prosthetic wrinkles as he appears in the film) promised more.
But as a science fiction thriller in its own right, it is adequate - visually attractive, exciting and thought-provoking, as it tackles the big questions of the origins of mankind and the nature of humanity, alongside chilling and shocking alien encounters. But little, in that sense, is new.

Prometheus is a wel thought out sci-fi film and was very enjoyable, but as a loose tie-in to the Alien franchise, the only saving grace was witnessing the birth of the first Xenomorph in the closing seconds of the film. Will this be enough to satiate fans? or is it like flying across the universe for two years to discover the origins of mankind and not getting the answer you'd been hoping for.

Prometheus gets 3.5 out of 5 reels

SupaNova, Cosplay & Aussie Con's

2012-06-13T20:34:00.003+10:00

Pop Culture, Geekery and the Modern Australian Convention

For many years there have been conventions all around the world. From the famous Comicon in San Diego to the lesser know Hal-Con in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Amongst the growing fan bases around the world, Australia has joined the Geek Elite with Con's of its own, growing them year on year, guest on guest and crowd on crowd.

The biggest and most popular of these Aussie Con's is SupaNova. SupaNova is where the adoring public comes face to face with Supa-Star celebrities and the creative talent that inspire their imaginary worlds under one big roof. Guests like Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Verne Troyer (Austin Powers) or Eric Roberts (Dark Knight) will grace Sydney and Perth for this years Con, giving fans a chance to meet some of their idols.

Gathered from and surrounded by the wonderful worlds of science-fiction, pulp TV/movies, toys, console gaming, trading cards, animation/cartoons, fantasy, comic books, entertainment technology, books, internet sites and fan-clubs, the result is an amazing atmosphere tailor made for expessing your inner geek and where getting into cosplay (cos-tume role-play) is the obvious thing to do!

SupaNova kicks off its 2012 tour in Sydney on June 15th - 17th 2012, then on to Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

Conventions have not always been the fanfare they are today. Starting in the late 1950's and growing from there, conventions started in small scout halls and peoples living rooms, allowing like minded people to share the latest episode of their favourite sci-fi or fantasy show, swap collectibles and tell stories of what it means to them to be a true fan!

Now, conventions have grown into full fledged marketing campaigns for movie studios to launch their latest flicks, comic houses to reveal that new character or twisted plot point, and for those seeking a break into the industry to mearly sit back and let the big guys take centre stage. Gone are the days when people would share their stories, or just swap collectibles, now stall amongst stall of collectible vendor can peddle their wares, with limited editions just for the con, or sneak peeks in to what is to come for the upcoming movie tie-in or game launch. A swapping of stories has turned into 2 day panels where the cast of the upcoming film you want to see is there to answer all your questions and market themselves, and where being a true fan has finally become mainstream and cool, but at a price of no longer being a true NERD!

On the plus side, all those guys who beat you up in high school are now clamming to be just like you, only they never will be as you are the only ones who truly appreciate the subculture that is the modern Con.

Saying that Con's have lost their way or meaning would be too harsh though. They have mearly evolved into a modern, re-telling of the way they where, allowing a broader audience to enjoy all the things us fans hold dear and allowing entities like Hollywood to create the gems (and some times not so gemmy) flicks that we all imagined in our minds, bringing our heroes to life.

The rise of the Cosplay element has brought a new life to Con's allowing fans to express their love for everything geek by dressing up as their favourite characters and wearing their favourite show, game or movie, literally on their sleeve.

Cosplay events are rapidly growing world wide with Con's dedicated to just one type of Cosplay genre having emerged with the likes of Blizzard-Con. In Australia more and more fans are coming out in Cosplay and supporting the cause.

One of the newest names in Cosplay royalty is Matthew Klimenko. Matthew has been participating in Cosplay events all around Australia for more than 5 years and finally took home a winners trophy from a recent Melbourne Con, for his Squirtle (Pokemon) mascot costume (pictured). Matthew's costumes include a version of Robocop (from Robocop 2), self designed and invented characters like his ever popular Spader (half Spartan half Vader - pictured) and other ideas only true fans can dream up and build. I will be sitting down with Matthew and having him as my special guest to help me launch the new Thought Wad podcast with a month of Convention, Cosplay and Geek talk in July.

Matthew will also be raising money for Childrens Brain Cancer research at the 2012 Melbourne SupaNova with a booth allowing you to get your photo taken with him in one of his many costumes and give a small donation to a great cause.

If there is anything you ever wanted to know about the Australian Con Circuit or Cosplay, send your questions to anthony@nerdentertainment.com and I will have Matthew and his crew get to them with answers only front-line fans would know.

So get involved, Cosplay it up and come and see us at SupaNova Syndey or Matthew in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and everywhere else!!

For a full list of all the Con's world wide click here: http://bit.ly/oCxaJ7

Transcend the Ordinary with Transcend GPS

2012-06-07T12:16:00.001+10:00

Zeal Optics - Transcend GPS Goggles

When I first saw a blog post about these goggles over a year ago I said to myself "I have to have a pair of those!". So when they were released I bought a pair, and I can tell you that it was AUD$500.00 very well spent.

The goggles themselves are a little larger than a normal pair of snow goggles but the tech inside and out makes it worth the few extra grams in weight.

The specially formulated lens cuts out 99.9% of the glare with a polarized coating and with the SPPX One Technology the lens shifts according to the lighting conditions around, so you only need ONE pair of goggles for every snow and light condition.

When they first arrived I was like a kid in a candy store quickly unwrapping the layers of shipping paper and plastic box to try them on and charge them up using the supplied mini-USB cable.

Whilst waiting for them to charge I installed the desktop software that allows you to download all of the days data you have collected and look it over, compare it to previous days, times, distances etc. and then, using the google maps overlay, re-live your runs, turn by glorious turn.

Once charged I booted up the goggles and put them on. The first thing I noticed was the nicely placed screen on the lower right of the lens. Its in just the right place that it doesn't feel too intrusive and can be easily seen or ignored depending on your preference.

After scrolling through the menus using the easily accessible buttons on the side of the frame (and they are big enough that when you have your gloves on they don't become difficult to use) I started to drill deeper into the core of what the Transcend has to offer.

Being able to track things like ground speed, GPS position, temperature, altitude, run length, run mapping, vertical & horizontal distance travelled, jump height and the inclusion of a timing chronometer for those races against the friends you know you're going to beat anyway, makes the Transcend GPS a worthy goggle of any avid snow sports person.

Available in 3 colours, you can pick one that suits your personality, or just go with black like I did, so it matches all your other ski-gear.

A demo of what these can do can be seen in this video:

and the desktop software:

The Zeal Optics Transcend GPS goggle gets a 4 out of 5 for being the first of its kind.

ps. Keep your eyes out for the Z3, the new goggles from Zeal Optics that include a new control system via bluetooth as well as a new 16:9 screen and new smaller streamline design.

Marvel's The Avengers

2012-06-05T12:15:00.001+10:00

*WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*

(But if you haven't seen it by now do you really care?)

Marvel's The Avengers

If you haven't seen it yet............. WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?

Go and see the best film of 2012 so far and revel in its awesome script, great acting and perfect pacing. And if you don't like superhero movies, you just might after seeing this one!!

There are few moments in cinema history have incited as much delight, rumor, or anticipation as the after credits appearance of Samuel L. Jackson in the first Iron Man film. With the final words, “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative,” Jackson represented a movement away from the formulaic superhero film toward a project that would restore the glory of the comic books that inspired the hero craze in the first place. With grace, humor, and more than a few winks at the audience, Joss Whedon’s The Avengers reinvents the superhero film and delivers one of the best action adventure films ever made.

With a tantalising marketing campaign that dropped hints and teasers after the credits of the Avengers’ origin story films, The Avengers set an impossibly high bar for its performance. In a movie year brimming with highly anticipated films, Joss Whedon’s ambitious project could have drowned in its own hype. Instead, The Avengers, like its protagonists, accomplishes an impossible feat: not only meeting, but surpassing, the public’s expectations.

It is no accident that the carefully orchestrated The Avengers is so impressive. Whedon and co-writer Zak Penn’s writing is extremely tight, polished, filled with perfectly timed jokes and emotional development. As a result, the film is not simply a film about explosions and super powers; it is a comedic and emotional journey into the comic book world. While we have seen other action adventures with similar balances of story and action, the quick humor may be the film’s most exciting and unique aspect. Emerging from a tradition of superhero tales that takes themselves far too seriously, The Avengers is deeply layered with witty references to the comic’s history, tongue in cheek nods to the standard failings of the genre, and hilarious references to classical aspects of certain heroes’ personalities. The result is a breathless audience, gasping after bouts of laughter and awe-inspiring action scenes alike.

Naturally, Whedon’s writing and particular tone would do nothing were it not for his absurdly talented cast. Robert Downey, Jr. returns as Tony Stark/Iron Man, and delivers every line with a savory enjoyment we have come to know and love. Chris Evans’ Captain America is the decently optimistic foil for Iron Man, while Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is a grunting, ethereal god with little to say and a lot to hit. Jackson reprises his role as the wry Nicky Fury. The two humans in the Avengers, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) supply the narrative with much needed firepower and the inkling of a romance. And most pleasantly surprising of all is Mark Ruffalo’s understated, tense, and undeniably magnetic performance as Dr. Banner, more commonly known as the Hulk. Ruffalo's portrayal is the best to date, showcasing the Bruce Banner side as in-control, yet ready to unleash the Hulk should he need to, but at the same time shows the internal struggle of the green monster trying to get out. It is the ultimate Jeckyl and Hyde story played to a tee.

The Avengers finds our heroes scattered across different continents and solar systems. It is only when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) returns to earth and makes off with the Tesseract, a power source that viewers will recognize from the Avengers’ individual films, that Fury and Black Widow begin to gather up the different members of a the Avengers Initiative. Together, the team must stop Loki from enacting his plan to enlist the Chitauri army (from the Ultimate Avengers Universe. Also known as the Skrull in the regular Avengers Universe) in an attack upon the earth–a plan apparently motivated by Loki’s desire to destroy the one thing that Thor loves...... Humanity.

Admittedly, the plot takes backseat to other elements of the film. The real conflict appears as the powerful heroes and their equally imposing egos come into play. Some of the most engaging scenes are those where the Avengers face off against each other, whether it’s through heated discussions or actual demonstrations of their physical abilities.

Whedon encases these scenes of enthralling character development and conflict with thrilling action sequences that are beautifully choreographed, busy, and meaningful. The 3D is used subtly, almost unnoticeable in its enhancement, and yet lending a pulsing reality to the action. Even with this effect, the action scenes are extremely clean and avoid gore or brutality, delivering something rarely seen in todays films, yet highly engaging.

The most pivotal scene in this super-thrill ride comes in the form of one of the most beloved characters from the Marvel films meeting his glorious end. Agent Colson's death is for me the stand out scene of the film, bringing this much loved character a fitting and triumphant demise with that smirk and charm that only Colson can bring to a superhero film. Rumours are circulating the interweb and speculating that he isn't really dead, what are your thoughts? Would it make that scene any less as important or meaningful? We can only hope to see more of Agent Colson, not only in the upcoming Ultimate Spiderman cartoon series but in a live action format as well.

As The Avengers plunges through its disaster-movie style climax, it is with such a careful pace and mesmeric character dynamic that the film’s over two hour run-time is barely felt. When the credits do roll, viewers will be satisfied but also fiercely, addictively, wanting more.

The post-credit sequence opens up the greater audience at-large to a sneak peak at one of the greatest villians in the Marvel universe, Thanos. If it is a glimpse of things to come we can be assured that the Thanos story lines us comic book geeks love, will be woven into this wonderfully crafted world of superheroes and Whedon script writing.

Thank You Joss Whedon and thank you Stan Lee! We hope there is more to come from this dynamic franchise...... I am almost sure there will be.

The Avengers gets a 5 out of 5 film reels.

2012 Oscars

2012-02-24T08:26:00.000+11:00

So its that time again. The movies have been seen, the actors have acted and the AMPAS has done its usual job of picking some great and some pretentious films for its 2012 Oscar Nominations.

As usual I have listed all the nominations below and put my pick for winner in BOLD. I have also put my vote or pick for each category in RED.

Feel free to leave comments and discus the nominations and my picks and let me know your thoughts.

I will check in after the big night and recap on the winners.

Best Picture
Winner: The Artist
The Descendants
Midnight in Paris
Hugo
Moneyball
The Help
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Director
Winner: Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life

Best Actor
Winner: Jean Dujardin – The Artist
George Clooney – The Descendants
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Best Actress
Winner: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Viola Davis – The Help
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Christopher Plummer – The Beginners
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Octavia Spencer – The Help
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids

Best Writing – Original Screenplay
Winner: Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo – Bridesmaids
Asghar Farhadi – A Separation
J.C. Chandor – Margin Call

Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash – The Descendants
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin – Moneyball
Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan – Tinker Tailor Solider Spy
John Logan – Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon – The Ides of March

Best Animated Feature
Winner: Rango
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Puss in Boots
Kung Fu Panda 2

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: A Separation – Iran
Monsieur Lazhar – Canada
Footnote – Israel
Bullhead – Belgium
In Darkness – Poland

Best Documentary – Feature
Winner: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Undefeated
Hell and Back Again
Pina
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

Best Original Score
Winner: The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Hugo – Howard Shore
War Horse – John Williams
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy – Alberto Iglesias
The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams

Best Original Song
Winner: Man or Muppet – The Muppets
Real in Rio – Rio

Best Sound Editing
Winner: War Horse
Hugo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Drive

Best Sound Mixing
Winner: Hugo
Moneyball
War Horse
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Art Direction
Winner: Hugo
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
War Horse
Midnight in Paris

Best Cinematography
Winner: The Artist
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Costume Design
Winner: The Artist – Mark Bridges
Hugo – Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
W.E. – Arianne Phillips
Anonymous – Lisy Christl

Best Film Editing
Winner: The Artist
The Descendants
Hugo
Moneyball
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Visual Effects
Winner: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Real Steel

Enjoy films big night and see you after the oscars!

Momofuku Seiobo - Sydney

2011-11-18T10:26:00.001+11:00

Miso Soup? Not at Momofuku Seiobo!

The standard offering of miso at a japanese is flipped on its head and frozen, and that's just the tip of the wattle seed iceberg at this fabulous new dining establishment, the first of its kind on a foreign shore.

Momofuku Seiobo Sydney not only lives up to the standard set by the world renowned David Chang but the experience surpasses it's New York brethren with it's inventive use of local Australian fare not regularly seen in a restaurant.

From the clever use of native flora (Warrigal Greens) that most would consider just a part of the landscape to the offering that is served in just the right way, at just the right pace, the open kitchen atmosphere and knowledgable chefing crew make Momofuku the new jewel of Sydney dining.

The Somelliers pairing menu brings an already outstanding menu to life including the use of Sake, beer and Australian wines, and enhances the smokey, rich, subtle and delicate flavours that are scattered through the wondrous journey that is the Momofuku Seiobo menu.

Whilst enjoying the miso ice-cream with dehydrated fruits and mochi served on rice pudding, a secert invitation is passed on to invite my taste buds to sneak in to the back kitchen and join Peter and the Momofuku team in tasting their test batch of potato bun burgers. The light fluffy bun with a small amount of partially cooked onion and the perfect meat patty are all thats needed to make one of the best burgers I have ever had!

Will it end up on the new bar menu?

Visit the tantalisingly awesome new Momofuku Seiobo at The Star Sydney to find out!

Breaking Bridezilla

2011-11-18T09:52:00.001+11:00

Essential Groom
Grooms of the world... watch out! Have you had to deal with a Bridezilla before?

Breaking bridezilla

www.essentialgroom.com.au

She's become popular fodder for magazines and reality television in recent years. A man could be forgiven for thinking that any woman wielding a diamond ring is liable to morph into a two-headed hydra without notice, roaring about metallic invitation fonts and ready to tear the head off anyone who s...

Ironclad

2011-08-22T11:09:00.001+10:00

This medieval epic starring the likes of Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox and James Purefoy is a 'bloody' great film.

Ironclad has plenty of action with minimum but effective drama, intense and at times horrific battle sequences throughout with a story that's interesting and easy to follow. From the very start, it's all about the battles, with gory and realistic consequences of war being portrayed, in a no holds barred style. The viewer is left in a state of shock for most of the time, seeing heads split, roll and even a tongue being cut out, not to mention the body parts being sliced and diced during the assault on ones senses.

Of course, this is a movie about a siege, and big battles aren't typically the way sieges work. You've got the good guys on one side of the wall, the bad guys on the other, and except for a person or two having second thoughts on which side is which, it's all about holding fast until the next attack. The siege in question is that of Rochester Castle in 1215 - having signed the Magna Carta, King John (Giamatti) decides he wants to take it back with a vengeance, and sets about eliminating all of the other signatories. The Duke of Albany (Cox) means to stop him, but has only one Templar Knight (James Purefoy), his squire (Aneurin Barnard), and a rag-tag band of former allies to stand against John and his army of Danish mercenaries. They hole up in Rochester Castle - to its master's very mixed emotions - with plans to stall him until reinforcements can arrive from France.

Ironclad has three big battle sequences as King John's men attempt to storm the castle, and while director Jonathan English does sometimes have the cinematographer shake the camera a bit more than necessary, the action scenes are not bad at all: The camera isn't constantly in so tight that you can't see what's going on - in fact, there are several pretty good scenes of sword fighting - and most of the actors and doubles look like they know what they're doing. The blood does flow, with nothing romanticized and a fair amount of warfare shown as particularly vicious. There are siege engines, towers, and a thing with pigs (Sappers) which seem to be insanely effective.

In between these battles, though, things tend to get kind of dull. The grimy allies don't particularly differentiate themselves, squire Guy's idealistic talk rings somewhat hollow, and the subplot about the bored young wife of the Duke of Rochester throwing herself at the Templar Knight just tends to seem forced on every possible level (why is it him she's suddenly obsessed with, are we supposed to be rooting for him to betray his principles, and is Kate Mara in a tight leather corset really going to have so few options even if husband Derek Jacobi has never touched her?). What's going on between John and Tiberius, the head of his mercenaries, is never that interesting, and the differences of opinion between the Dukes of Rochester and Albany don't do much better.

And there's the crying shame. There are some darn good actors in this movie, but English seems to have no idea how to use them properly. How the heck do you put Brian Cox and Derek Jacobi in this situation and not give them a chance to create gold? Why is Charles Dance so underused when his early scenes as the archbishop are some of the film's more charismatic? There are no really bad performances in the picture, but few of the bold - or just large - ones. Brian Cox is consistently giving the material his all, and James Purefoy is decently tortured. Even Paul Giamatti barely bothers with anything approximating an English accent, although he does at least get to cut loose in one late scene, and it is glorious, the sort of fierce, carnivorous acting to match the battle scenes' mayhem.

This film is worth a watch on DVD when it finally comes out.

I give it 3 and half out of five reels!

Essential Groom

2011-05-15T15:31:00.000+10:00

"TAKING YOU FROM BENDED KNEE TO HAPPILY EVER AFTER!"

Essentialgroom.com.au is the new and exciting website for men getting married. The brain child of 2 Sydney men, this new site gives men the chance to be more involved with their weddings and gives the Bride a place that they can send their man to learn about his duties, dealing with the soon to be mother-in-law and all that other fun stuff that comes with getting married (dealing with bridezillas included).

Essentialgroom.com.au is a website for the discerning groom with tips, ideas and how-to's, to guide and assist any groom through engagement and the big day.

Essentialgroom.com.au is not only for grooms though. With an area for groomsmen and for father's of grooms as well, Essentialgroom.com.au offers a complete experience to all those seeking nuptial advice pre, during and post the wedding day.

For those wishing to advertise on the site or in the directory, all the necessary information is available at http://www.essentialgroom.com.au/docs/ESSENTIAL_GROOM_MEDIA.pdf

Check out www.essentialgroom.com.au to witness this exciting new website first hand.

Thor

2011-05-15T15:22:00.000+10:00

Based on the long running Marvel Comics title, Thor is the story of a brash and arrogant godling. Hemsworth’s hero begins the movie all too keen on anything that involves smashing, smiting or general hammer-related havoc. When his actions cause a crease in a longstanding truce between the Asgardians and a rival race of Frost Giants, Thor’s father Odin (played in a surprisingly restrained manner by Anthony Hopkins) banishes his son to Earth until he can learn some humility.

From the very onset, Thor takes us into the beautiful expanse of Asgard, home of the gods. Masterfully directed with a Shakespearian aura and feel, this film delivers on so many levels, making it one of the best comic book adaptations in recent years.

This is a star-making turn for Hemsworth. The film rests on his shoulders, and he carries it with ease, effortlessly bouncing from funny to heavy to I’m-going-to-beat-you-with-this-here-hammer. Apparently, charisma and brawn aren’t mutually exclusive.

After the Lord of the Rings-style opening (complete with voice over, army battle and soaring orchestral score), the film stops taking itself so seriously. Thor is set in the same universe as the Iron Man films, and how do you make a hammer-wielding Norse god fit believably into Tony Stark’s contemporary America? Well, you take the piss, obviously. And while a lot can be said about the script and its shortcomings in terms of dialogue, the humour works.

Under Branagh's guiding hand, Thor and his band of friends - Sif and the Warriors Three - carry on like Errol Flynn-era heroes, clapping each other on the shoulder in greeting and over-emoting just enough to set them apart from us mere Earthlings. It's charming.

More broadly, though, Thor has a real emotional depth - it's unusually soulful for a superhero film. Yes, Christopher Nolan's Batman efforts had a similar sensitivity, though it came from a darker and, thus, ultimately less interesting place; Thor is more bittersweet. There's a hopefulness to the film, particularly its ending.

In terms of Marvel movies, it’s better than Iron Man 2, but not as good as the first Iron Man. It’s a nice teaser for The Avengers flick, and worth seeing on the big screen for some of the stunning computer-generated landscapes.

I give Thor 4 out of 5 reels, mainly because I am a Kenneth Brannagh fan and a Thor enthusiast.

Avatar : Last Airbender

2011-02-25T21:43:00.000+11:00

It has taken me some time to get this review out. I wasn't going to post it but thought to myself, sometimes the truth needs to be told!

I originally saw this film the day it was released in cinemas, this was my mistake. I took a chance on a beloved animated series and manga of mine that was adapted by one of Hollywoods most untalented filmmakers, and it delivered on only 1 level. It delivered on being as bad as all the other M Night Shyamalan films to date!

M Night Shyamalan has already made a multitude of films that lend example to why he should never be allowed to direct, let alone write or produce another film, and book one in the Avatar : The Last Airbender series was another testament to his truly pathetic style and foray into feature films. The script was at best juvenile, and felt like it was written by a monkey with a type writer. The acting was not only colder than the northern water tribe but frozen in a lake of lackluster disingenuous half attempts by TV personalities and unknown actors.

A saving grace for this film (and the only reason I stayed in the theater after the first 20mins) was the outstanding job on visual effects.

I give this film 0.5 out of 5 reels and hope that someone else directs the other 2 books in this 3 book saga.

The Karate Kid

2011-02-25T21:37:00.000+11:00

This re-imagining of an 80's classic dared to tread on my childhood. It was more like trampled than tread, as this film never lived up to any expectation I had for it from start to finish.

When popular 12-year-old Dre Parker's (Jaden Smith) single mum Sherry is transferred to China, he develops a crush on a new schoolmate that makes him the target of class bully Cheng. Dre turns to building superintendent Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) who just happens to be a kung fu master and asks for the help he will need to become a kung-fu master.

The story is essentially the same. Swap moving from Jersey to California and the culture shock that entails for the more extreme Detroit to China move and change the parental love interest obstacle into a cultural one as well. Miyagi's fly catching trick is made into a silly joke and his unorthodox training methods are mildly retained yet morphed into a lesson in respect. The famous stork stance is shadowed in a kung fu ritual where a female master engages a cobra on a temple pinnacle. It must be said that this "Kid's" violence is pretty brutal compared to the original.

This movie upset me by the end and really should have stuck with its original title "The Kung Fu Kid", maybe then it wouldn't have destroyed a classic film from my childhood for the next generation.

I give it 1.5 out of 5 reels.

The 2011 Oscars

2011-02-25T21:31:00.000+11:00

With so many great movies this year, some of the categories are harder to pick than usual. From the brilliant movie that is Kings Speech to some outstanding performances, scripts and other pieces of filmaking in films like, True Grit, Black Swan and The Social Network.

I have seen the movies and had my opinions, and below are my picks for this the 83rd Academy Awards.

Leading Actor - Colin Firth, The Kings Speech

Cinematography - True Grit

Foreign Language Film - Biutiful (Mexico)

Sound Editing - Tron:Legacy

Supporting Actor - Geoffery Rush, The Kings Speech

Costume Design - Alice in Wonderland

Makeup - Barney's Version

Sound Mixing - Inception

Leading Actress - Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Directing - The Social Network

Original Score - Inception

Visual Effects - Inception

Supporting Actress - Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Documentary Feature - Exit through the gift shop

Original Song - We Belong Together, Toy Story 3

Adapted Screenplay - Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Animated Feature - Toy Story 3

Documentary Short - Poster Girl

Animated Short Film - Day & Night

Original Screenplay - Inception

Art Direction - Alice in Wonderland

Film Editing - 127 Hours

Live Action Short Film - The Confession

Best Picture - The Kings Speech

As always, post a comment below and let me know your thoughts. Will check back in after the big night.

Youth in Revolt

2010-09-06T10:27:00.003+10:00

In this highly unoriginal story, Nick is a virgin, shunned by every girl he knows, and lives with his mother and her latest in a long line of boyfriends starting with Zac Galifinakis and moving on to Ray Liotta.

The dysfunctional family are forced to flee their home temporarily to a trailer park. Nick is openly contemptuous of his mother’s new man, but tags along anyway. One wonders how such a sweet kid could have blossomed from such a home life. He has a sharp wit, deadpanning lines at every opportunity and is, once again, far smarter than any child I encountered at that age. He has to suffer not only his mother having sex with abandon, but also his father’s new girlfriend, a highly-sexed twenty-five year old. This is unfortunate for a virgin such as himself.

The trailer park is initially unappealing – the trailer itself looks fit to collapse at any point, and Nick settles in for what looks like being an uncomfortable week of him sitting in one room listening to his mother and boyfriend "playing Scrabble", as they call it, in the bedroom. But then he meets Sheeni. She’s beautiful, smart, listens to Serge Gainsbourg and, amazingly, likes him too. Good girls like bad boys, though, and clearly Nick is not a bad boy. He must find a way to alter his habits of a lifetime if he is to get his cherry popped.

Nick invents an alter-ego, Francois (Cera again) who is just that bad boy. Where Nick is timid and unfailingly polite, Francois smokes, curses and vandalises, all in the name of getting Nick kicked out of his mother’s home and towards the waiting arms of Sheeni at the trailer park.

Cera is a likeable, but limited actor. He plays innocence perfectly but I have doubts about his ability to play anything other than the virginal youth. I’m cheering for him, though, because he’s just so darn sweet. His Twisp is simply an extension of his "Juno"character, and his alter-ego is even less convincing. It does, however, give us the opportunity of witnessing Francois coaching Nick, in the ways of love. Watch as first Francois tells Sheeni ‘I'm gonna wrap your legs around my head and where you like the crown that you are’, only for Nick to then add ‘if that’s OK with you’. An interesting morality, when you come to think about it; to win the girl you have to burn down a shop, get her expelled, and feed her parents mushrooms so you can spend some time with her.

There are guest cameos from Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta and Fred Willard, none of whom add to the story. From the opening scene, we know where the movie will go. There's nothing wrong in that, of course; some of the greatest movies have time-tested formulas. This, though, isn't one of those great movies.

I give this movie 2 out of 5 reels and sadly expected way too much from a film that ultimately under delivers.

2010 Emmys

2010-08-31T12:23:00.000+10:00

So the Emmys came and went for another year. Some of my predictions were right, most were suprisingly wrong.

Most of the shows I thought would be ringers (ala. Lost) didn't pickup any awards in the major categories. I thought stuff like that would have swept it due to the "its no longer on TV so give it something" attitude most other years have presented. But anyway, below are the actual winners from the major categories. Feel free to talk about it, compare with my predictions and comment on who you thought should have won.

2010 Emmy Winners:

Drama Series: Mad Men
Comedy Series: Modern Family
Mini Series: The Pacific
Made for TV Movie: Temple Grandin

Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston
Actress in a Drama Series: Kyra Sedgwick
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Aaron Paul
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Archie Panjabi

Actor in a Comedy Series: Jim Parsons
Actress in a Comedy Series: Edie Falco
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Eric Stonestreet
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Jane Lynch

Actor in a Mini Series: Al Pacino
Supporting Actor in a Mini Series: David Strathairn

Actress in a Mini Series: Claire Danes
Supporting Actress in a Mini Series: Julie Ormond

So again, have a chat, yell at the voters for not voting for your shows and remember, they will happen again next year!

Killers

2010-08-06T09:41:00.000+10:00

** WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS **

I normally dont mind a good romantic comedy and when a trailer says to me romantic comedy with spy action, I just get excited. It means I can watch a film with my wife and not be completely bored. But in this case it seems the filmmakers decided to scale way back on the espionage in favor of the romantic comedy angle. The result is uneven, to put it mildly.

The story revolves around Spencer (Ashton Kutcher) who is essentially portrayed as a low-grade Ethan Hunt, a young but masterful spy. The early scenes do a great job of setting the tone: while Spencer lurks around Corsica, tracking and ultimately bombing a mysterious, supervillain known as “Leveneux,” he has a goofy meet with Jen (Katherine Heigl), who’s vacationing with her overbearing, intrusive parents. They share a cute, slightly awkward moment, at which point Spencer asks Jen out. Gleeful, evidently lonely Jen prepares for a date with Spencer, while he plants a bomb on Leveneux’s escape helicopter. They both dash to an outdoor café, overlooking the Mediterranean, just in time to see the chopper explode. A montage follows, depicting their whirlwind courtship and marriage. During this montage, Spencer quits working as a spy and opens a small design firm in the suburbs.

The story then jumps forward three years, to a much more complacent Jen and Spencer. They’re still in love, but they’re decidedly a settled married couple. Spencer has some issues with the amount of time Jen spends with her parents. Jen has some issues with how much time he spends at work. That night, Jen throws a surprise party in anticipation of Spencer’s birthday. The following morning, Spencer finds his best friend, Henry, trying to kill him. From there, Jen learns of Spencer’s secret past as a spy, and Spencer learns (from Henry) that he has a $20 million bounty on his head. Henry knows more assassins will be hot on Spencer’s trail, but he doesn’t know how many, who put the bounty on Spencer, or why they were paid to “sleep” in Spencer’s subdivision for three years before activation. Spencer assumes it has something to do with his handler. The remainder of the story focuses on two major plot threads: Spencer and Jen uncovering information about who hired the assassins, and the couple attempting to elude and/or fight various assassins. With all this happening, Jen struggles to deal with Spencer’s deception, and Spencer struggles with the idea that he may be a father.

Tom Selleck is the outstanding role in this film. His protrayal of the over protective father-in-law is superb. His ever present mustache adds a presence that no other mustached actor could provide.

There were a few laugh-out-loud moments along the way (the part with Spencer’s feeble attempt at a mustache comes to mind), but mostly the story was uninspired, uninteresting, and unoriginal. I was mildly entertained for most of the time. I give this film 2 and a half out of 5 film reels.

Inception

2010-08-02T10:35:00.000+10:00

** WARINING THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAINS SPOILERS **

Inception is another classic example of why Christopher Nolan is a cinematic genius.

From the moment the film opens we are drawn into a world where dream is reality and reality is dream, a wild ride down a rabbit hole with no looking back. This film tests the boundaries of your imagination and had my brain reacting on a variety of levels, some I didn't even know existed. This is a thinking movie that works. Some have compared it to "The Matrix" and to those people I say "Matrix Shmatrix.... This film was so much better on so many levels".

So the main plot goes like this: Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a wanted felon in the United States and makes his living working freelance for company's performing extraction. Extraction is the removal of thoughts/secrets from a person's mind while they are in a dream. It is all very complicated but explained well so we get it (as much as you can get it that is). Cobb is hired by Saito (Ken Watanabe) to do something that has never been done, inception, on his biggest competitor's son. Inception is the planting of an idea in someone's mind during a dream BUT it must be done so they think it was their own idea. Still with me? Good. Cobb assembles a team to pull off this heist and most of the film involves the set-up of the inception.

The actual film watching experience of Inception is not a simple one to understand and it never pretends to be one. It is full of ideas and experiences that are beyond imagination. Making it highly enjoyable if you can sit back and delve deep into your mind to draw conclusions and keep track of alternating reality's. The dream portions especially call for this patience. Watching the interloping of dreams results in great imagery, with layers building upon each other and the reality of situations constantly being influenced by those in the dream.

Christopher Nolan not only does an excellent job as director but also with his writing by setting up the science of the matter. He refrains from going into a great amount of detail, therefore not confusing an audience member with little understanding of the subject, but gives just enough so that everyone can easily suspend their disbelief and believe in a world where entering another person's dream and manipulating their dream consciousness is possible.

The film relies on a lot of effects to create the dream world, yet Nolan approaches many of these effects practically, to enhance the reality of what’s captured on film. A movie set in unreal worlds is the perfect excuse for millions of dollars in CG effects (see The Matrix, The Lovely Bones, etc) yet Nolan attacks the effects with practicality. He wants audiences to buy into what they’re seeing, even though the dream world means they shouldn’t. It’s a beautiful paradox - the reality of the dream - and it’s what gives Inception an incredible amount of depth and substance. The performances in this film were all outstanding, but for me the 2 most memorable were from Jospeh Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy. Both of these men gave exemplary performances and really help lift the acting of those around them.

Each and every scene counts in this profoundly imaginative sci-fi thriller that has all the elements that turn into a classic because it’s consistently clever, well-acted, suspenseful, intricately layered, timeless, intriguing and even moving at times. Its is a groundbreaking, intriguing, exhilarating and brilliant sci-fi thriller that has this fan of the genre wanting to see it again.

Inception is an amazing construction of a film and richly deserves the 5 out of 5 film reels I am giving it.

Predators

2010-07-09T12:10:00.001+10:00

Walking into Nimrod Antal's latest flick, the next in the beloved and much cherised Predator series was nerve racking. Would this film live up to my childhood fondness for Arnies' action extravaganzas? Could it blast away the nightmares that were "AVP" and "AVP Requiem"? As the lights in the cinema dimmed and the film opened my hopes where high along with the packed house of guys (and 2 token girlfriends) about my age coming to relive their childhoods.

With a producer like Robert Rodriguez ("Desperado", "Spy Kids") and director Nimord Antal ("Armored", "Vacancy"), One could only hope that this film had delivered more than it did in the time it had. A great cast delivered well and at times made the slow scenes move faster than they actually were.

The film opens in mid-air. Our unlikely-looking hero Adrien Brody, the voice of Batman coming from the face of Roberto Benigni, is thrown into the action and so are we. In short order a motley crew of badasses is assembled and somehow reaches a consensus on who’s in charge. We aren’t on Earth. Where we are exactly isn’t clear – there are familiar earthly plants but there’s a slightly over-egged reveal that makes it abundantly clear that we aren’t in Kansas any more.

Genre cinema veterans will soon guess who dies, and in approximately what order. That’s hardly the point of a flick like this though. Lots of stuff happens, and nobody ruins the action by talking.

We learn that there are two breeds, or perhaps more properly castes, of Predator and that Arnie faced down the smaller, cuddlier, one in 1987. One of the big action scenes includes a third type of alien, that of the Predator Dog, a ravaging and menacing creature sent to test our band of misfits so that the predators themselves can study their pray.

In this game of "Who'll Die First?" "Predators" asks players to determine which among its nine human characters will die miserably at the hands of lizard-like alien hunters. The object of their game is to skewer, spindle and mutilate as many humans as possible. The object of our game is to guess which character will bite it at what time. The game ends when most everyone is dead and a sequel has been setup. The winner is the player who predicts the most casualties and/or holds down his popcorn during the decapitation scenes.

Topher Grace plays the nerdiest human on this distant planet, some unnamed jungle paradise with multiple moons. His character, a twitchy young doctor, arrives in an airdrop with a bunch of killers, warriors and scuzzbags who were suddenly beamed off Planet Earth and chucked onto an extraterrestrial game farm. In addition to Grace's nerd, among the prey are Adrien Brody's character, a black ops mercenary who wakes just in time to deploy his parachute, and Laurence Fishburne's character (my personal favourite and rumored to be the inspiration for the prequel currently in development), who deserves an in-depth Freudian analysis.

None of this is scary, and nothing makes sense. Michael Finch and Alex Litvak's barely literate, slow and disjointed screenplay is just an excuse for Gyula Pados' snazzy cinematography and John Debney's orchestral score, which seems to hail from another film entirely (can anyone say "Dark Knight"). But perhaps that's part of the game.

All the iconic tropes and recognisable accoutrements from the first film are trotted out for our amusement here, from tree-flattening mini-guns via wooden booby-traps to bare-chested beat-downs. Certain characters even behave the same, and fulfil the same roles, as their counterparts from the 1987 film.This film was not ground breaking in any shape or form. It was rather a nice yet predictable movie that satisfied my urge for some Human/ Predator battles.

And like watching a solid, competent tribute band in a local pub, Predators replays all the beats and hits from its stadium-filling predecessor with crowd-pleasing enthusiasm, but there’s no escaping the feeling that it’s all been seen before.

So my childhood memories of the "Predator" series weren't completley destroyed, as I feared they might be. In the opposite way they were satisfied, just not quite how I imagined, or in the they should have been. I give "Predators" 3 out of 5 film reels. It's a highly entertaining film at times, and "Predator" fans should rest assured that memories of the horrid "AVP" movies can finally be laid to rest.

Knight and Day

2010-07-09T09:25:00.003+10:00

Anyone who enjoyed Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible 4", "Collateral" or "Days of Thunder" will be thrilled to watch the fast-paced, thrill-a-minute "Knight and Day". It’s been a good long while since Tom Cruise has been this loose and fun onscreen. As much as I have enjoyed films like “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Minority Report,” “Valkyrie,” and “War of the Worlds,” you have to go all the way back to “Jerry Maguire” to find Cruise this enjoyable to watch. Welcome back Tom!

One of the biggest problems is Diaz's character, however. It's not in how she plays it. There just don't seem to be a few scenes or notes for her character which would make her development work. Instead, she's one of these crazy movie people who not only get Stockholm Syndrome when kidnapped repeatedly, but get good at the secret agent stuff with no training or much plausible motivation. Then she really goes nuts, which is fine, but not as cute or grounded as it should be to really connect.

The film follows a more than used story and tries to tell it to a modern audience. The feds claim Miller (Cruise) has lost his marbles and gone rogue. Needless to say, June shouldn’t trust him (and if you don’t get frustrated with the amount of times she does specifically what Miller said NOT to do, well, there’s no getting into this movie for you), but part of the pleasure in Cruise’s performance is the uncertainty we feel in his character as an audience. Roy is so loopy, and sometimes so over-the-top, that even we aren’t sure what to believe. But like June, we go with him anyway.

The rest of the movie becomes a cat-and-mouse game with Roy keeping his real mission a secret as he drags June all over the planet. They dodge more bullets than good films this year but keep the entertainment coming. As they leap from one roof top to another, June is never sure if Roy is a good guy or not. Just when she seems most vulnerable, he does something that endures him to her even more. When they end up on Roy’s secret island, one he swears is untraceable for cell service, but June manages to test that theory too.

Both actors are good in this movie, but let’s face it -- you won’t remember anyone else in the movie. Because Cruise excels in this kind of comedy / action role. He brings nothing new to the film, but he does have a chemistry with Diaz that works well for the romantic angle.

While most of the movie’s action scenes are seen in the trailer, and moviegoers may not have as much fun as Cruise and Diaz obviously experienced while making "Knight and Day", this film is still fun and exciting to watch. "Knight and Day" is quite enjoyable, indeed, it's hard to hate, but that doesn't mean it reaches the level of a successful film in its own right. There are a few factors which keep holding it down, though we keep sensing the faint pulse of a much better movie beating somewhere beneath.

"Knight and Day" starts strong, but falls apart with some lackluster effects towards the end, a few plot development holes and a general sense of predictability. It's inconsequential romp and probably wouldn't overly burden a good date or disappoint much if you're looking for a mindless action film, but if you miss it, don't worry, wait for the DVD.

I give it 2 and a half out of 5 reels and think that it is a good film for a lazy afternoon.

2010 Emmy Nominations

2010-07-09T08:59:00.003+10:00

Below are this years nominations for the Emmy Awards. I have added in my picks for each category (by highlighting each pick), some of my pics aren't who I think is the best actor, or what was the best show, its just a calculated guess, keeping in mind these things can get political.

Lets see what ahppens on awards night, but untill then have a think, put down some guesses and discuss your thoughts on my picks below.

Drama Series
"Breaking Bad," "Dexter," "The Good Wife," "Lost," "True Blood," "Mad Men"

Comedy Series
"Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Glee," "Modern Family," "The Office," "Nurse Jackie," "30 Rock"

Miniseries
"The Pacific," "Return to Cranford"

Made-for-TV Movie
"Endgame," "Georgia O'Keeffe," "Moonshot," "The Special Relationship," "Temple Grandin," "You Don't Know Jack"

Actor, Drama Series
Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad")
Michael C. Hall ("Dexter")
Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights")
Hugh Laurie ("House")
Matthew Fox ("Lost")
Jon Hamm ("Mad Men")

Actress, Drama Series
Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer")
Glenn Close ("Damages")
Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights")
Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife")
Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit")
January Jones ("Mad Men")

Supporting Actor, Drama Series
Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad")
Martin Short ("Damages")
Terry O'Quinn ("Lost")
Michael Emerson ("Lost")
John Slattery ("Mad Men")
Andre Braugher ("Men of a Certain Age")

Supporting Actress, Drama Series
Sharon Gless ("Burn Notice")
Rose Byrne ("Damages")
Archie Panjabi ("The Good Wife")
Christine Baranski ("The Good Wife")
Christina Hendricks ("Mad Men")
Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men")

Actor, Comedy Series
Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory")
Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm")
Matthew Morrison ("Glee")
Tony Shalhoub ("Monk")
Steve Carell ("The Office")
Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock")

Actress, Comedy Series
Lea Michele ("Glee")
Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("The New Adventures of Old Christine")
Edie Falco ("Nurse Jackie")
Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation")
Tina Fey ("30 Rock")
Toni Collette ("United States of Tara")

Supporting Actor, Comedy Series
Chris Colfer ("Glee")
Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother")
Jesse Tyler Ferguson ("Modern Family")
Eric Stonestreet ("Modern Family")
Ty Burrell ("Modern Family")
Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men")

Supporting Actress, Comedy Series
Jane Lynch ("Glee")
Julie Bowen ("Modern Family")
Sofia Vergara ("Modern Family")
Kristen Wiig ("Saturday Night Live")
Jane Krakowski ("30 Rock")
Holland Taylor ("Two and a Half Men")

Actor, Miniseries or Movie
Jeff Bridges ("A Dog Year")
Ian McKellen ("The Prisoner")
Michael Sheen ("The Special Relationship")
Dennis Quaid ("The Special Relationship")
Al Pacino ("You Don't Know Jack")

Actress, Miniseries or Movie
Maggie Smith ("Capturing Mary")
Joan Allen ("Georgia O'Keefe")
Judi Dench ("Return to Cranford")
Hope Davis ("The Special Relationship")
Claire Danes ("Temple Grandin")

Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie
Michael Gambon ("Emma")
Patrick Stewart ("Hamlet")
Jonathan Pryce ("Return to Cranford")
David Straithairn ("Temple Grandin")
John Goodman ("You Don't Know Jack")

Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie
Kathy Bates ("Alice")
Julia Ormond ("Temple Grandin")
Catherine O'Hara ("Temple Grandin")
Brenda Vaccaro ("You Don't Know Jack")
Susan Sarandon ("You Don't Know Jack")

As always I will check back after the awards show and comment on the wins and losses.

Enjoy the show!

Toy Story 3

2010-06-25T16:32:00.000+10:00

Toy Story 3 is the final chapter in the long running (and beloved) Toy Story series. The series follows the adventures of Woody, Buzz and their gang of toys that belong to a boy named Andy. As Andy grows up we follow the toys on wild adventures and how they deal with Andy growing up and playing with them less.

This film reconnects us with Woody and Buzz just days before Andy is leaving for college. Grown up and in his teens, Andy has no use for toys anymore, they just sit, idle in the toy box. When Andy is cleaning out his room to make way for his sister and go off to college the toys begin their wild adventure. Ending up in Sunnyside, a day care facility thats more than what it seems.

The cheif of the tribe at Sunnyside is the cuddly, seemingly harmless bear Lotso who shows the gang the ropes before leaving them to their hellish first session with a group of toddlers whose violent playtime suggests the possibility of an almost fatal overdose of red cordial. This sequence, in which it would be an understatement to say they are 'maltreated', really is a brilliant pice of writing and filmmaking. The glassy dead eyed look of fear in the toys eyes is memorably portrayed in rapid close ups.

Lotso turns out to be a heartless, embittered tyrant who abandonment at the hands of his original owner has soured him on life. In a nifty turnabout he’s even able to sway Buzz, via his reset button, to partake of their dark cause. Later on, there’s another neat twist involving Buzz when the gang tries to reconfigure his settings, only to unleash a roguish, seductive Spanish version with his heart set on wooing Jessie.

Meanwhile, Woody’s displacement places him, rather fortuitously, in the company of some kind-hearted toys who have intimate knowledge of Lotso’s dark history, so Woody instigates what will become an elaborate escape plan to release his friends.

Keeping with the comedic tone of the past 2 films this movie keeps it light and has some of those great moments we love in film. For me the stand out characters are Ken (of Ken and Brabie fame) and Mr & Mrs Potatohead, they really lift the comedy and provide something that can involve the adults as well as the kids.

I hope the Pixar guys take a cue from their own story here and let it go. The Toy Story movies were a glorious era of cinema, but that moment has passed, has been taken to a perfect conclusion. Let it stay perfect by leaving it be after this.

This film is a perfect example of how to tie up a trilogy, it brings all the charactes together in a good place and leaves us with a feeling of satisfaction and closure. I had such a warm feeling at the end that made me feel the last 10 years of Toy Story have been worth it!

I give this film 4 out of 5 film reels and recommend it to anyone and everyone whos every loved being a kid!

The A-Team

2010-06-15T14:50:00.000+10:00

Not so much a 'reinvention'' of the series as it is an 'extension' of it, ''The A-Team'' has, above all, the fans interests at heart.

Just as they did in the original, Col. John "Hannibal" Smith (Liam Neeson), Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock (Sharlto Copley), Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck (Bradley Cooper) and Sgt. B.A. "Bad Attitude" Baracus flee prison (in a typically ingenious and traditionally ridiculous fashion) in an attempt to clear their names. Determined to capture the quartet for separate reasons are Capt. Carissa Sosa (Jessica Biel), who is merely doing her job, and the devious Agent Lynch (Patrick Wilson), who only has his own interests at heart.
Whether it's by sea, air (something flight-scarred 'B.A' doesn't approve of) or land, ‘The A-Team' must use both brains and brawn to keep one step ahead of those that either want to see them back in prison or permanently silenced.

The film is loaded with excellent humor, most of which stems from Murdock and Face, and action verging on the utter ridiculous and implausible. But we get so caught up in it and really believe a Murdock can catch a falling man with the leg of a helicopter.

Just as director Carnahan (''Smokin' Aces'') doesn't try to do anything different than to make "a big-screen version of the TV series'', his cast, for all intents and purposes, are there to merely channel their precursors. And in this case, it really works well. Liam Neeson is great as 'Hannibal', Bradley Cooper is doing Dirk Benedict doing 'Faceman', Sharlto Copley is doing Dwight Schultz doing 'Murdock', and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson is doing Mr T doing 'B.A' Baracus (almost like they are channeling the original cast), it's wonderful, like catching up with old friends.

So why don’t we just sum up my “A-Team” experience? The story could be better, but the acting and humor keep you caught up in this wild ride. The direction works, the visuals look okay, and the constant action, despite the over-the-top stunts, turns this movie into a big-screen bonanza I wouldn’t mind seeing again.

I pity the fool that misses this must see flik. Despite its utter ridiculousness, this movie is just so much fun to watch. Seriously, do yourself a favor and check it out.

I give The A-Team a 4 out of 5 reels and recommend it to anyone that likes the series and even those who have no clue what the A-Team is.

Thought Wad

Dark Knight Rises

Lady Gaga Sydney - June 23rd 2012

Prometheus

SupaNova, Cosplay & Aussie Con's

Transcend the Ordinary with Transcend GPS

Marvel's The Avengers

2012 Oscars

Momofuku Seiobo - Sydney

Breaking Bridezilla

Essential Groom Grooms of the world... watch out! Have you had to deal with a Bridezilla before?

Ironclad

Essential Groom

Thor

Avatar : Last Airbender

The Karate Kid

The 2011 Oscars

Youth in Revolt

2010 Emmys

Killers

Inception

Predators

Knight and Day

2010 Emmy Nominations

Toy Story 3

The A-Team

Essential Groom
Grooms of the world... watch out! Have you had to deal with a Bridezilla before?