We're just about at the halfway point of 2008 and I thought I'd shed some light on how the mainstream film industry is doing so far... at least compared to last year. Posted in the picture above is just a comparison of the top 20 grossing movies of 2007, and to this date, 2008. What's interesting is that of the 11 films that surpassed $200 million in total gross, only 3 of them showed favourable reviews (ie. an RT score > 70%); that being Bourne Ultimatum, Harry Potter Order of Phoenix, and Ratatouille. However, 2007 was bolstered by huge threequels which helped earnings by and large.

Shift your eyes to the right side of the picture and you'll see how we're doing in 2008. We're halfway through the year and only Iron Man and Indy have crossed the $200m line. Based on the earnings trend of Kung Fu Panda, I'm guessing it will likely pass that line. A lot of "high-profile" movies this summer have bombed critically and financially. I mean, at least in 2007, the blockbusters bombed critically, but still managed to be a financial success.

Just looking in the short term future, I'm assuming that Wall-E, The Dark Knight, MAYBE Mummy 3 will pass the $200m border as far as summer releases go. Hancock has a good chance as it's part of the Will Smith steam engine, although some of the advance reviews aren't so hot.

Looking a bit further into the Fall and Winter, nothing really jumps out as a surefire hit. Highschool the Musical 3 will probably do well as it makes its big screen debut. Quantum of Solace, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Star Trek, and The Spirit will probably all do well, at least $150m each.

I'm less pumped this summer to see movies than I was last year. There hasn't been much to go geek over. But alas I can't wait to see Wall-E, Hellboy 2, and Dark Knight.

Categories: movies

Admittedly, I've never seen The Sixth Sense. The only reason is that the ending was spoiled for me before I got the chance, so I just felt like I wouldn't get that same jaw-dropping surprise at the end as (unspoiled) first time viewers would. However, having seen bits and pieces of it, I respected the material, and the director for that matter. With Unbreakable and Signs, under M. Night's belt, it seemed what we had here was a gifted storyteller; capable of creating an atmosphere and suspense. He followed those up with The Village, which generally received a mix reaction, but for the most part I enjoyed it. Even though there were issues with the way he cut it, I thought he still managed to craft an interesting story. Then came Lady in the Water. Something had gone awry here. I have no doubt that if he were to remove all that self-referential bullshit, that it would have been alright. This was more of a rant than a movie. But you know, at least it had good acting by Paul Giamatti.

That brings us to The HapPenis. Boy... let me tell you about this movie. There are few times... FEW, when a group of friends see a movie, and there is a unanimous feeling towards it. Not everyone will like everything that everyone else does, that just the fact of life; you can't please every single person. I went to see this movie with 7 friends, and it was unanimous... this movie sucked!!! The story? Shitty. The acting? Shitty. The dialogue? Shitty! Those are the only words that can be used to describe this. It's so far removed from his other works that it's hard to believe that this was made by the same director/writer/shit-disturber. MNS has surely fallen from greatness, and it must hurt.

The only thing that saved this movie was totally unrelated to the actual movie! With about 15 minutes left of the movie, the projector had an error and shut off. The manager walked in and promised the audience refunds. How great is this? This, my friends, is proof that there is a God. He knew we were suffering, He came down and saved us from this movie. How I love Thee.

So save yourself some time. Do not go watch The HapPenis. There is one small ray of hope though. When you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up... that is unless MNS likes it down there, but let's hope not.

Categories: HapPenis , movies , shit , summer blockbusters , suspence , the happening

My school career is officially over (as far as I know at the moment) culminating this weekend with the convocation. I have now a Bachelor's of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering to my name. To the left is myself and my friend Peter.

Categories: life stuff

The Incredible Hulk is the second feature produced by Marvel Studios after May's release of Iron Man. This was not a sequel to the 2003 version by Ang Lee nor was it a remake; simply put, it was Marvel hitting the reset button and starting over again. And if this film is any indication of what Marvel has in stored for the future, then things are looking good for the geekdom.

The movie starts off with a quick summary of the Hulk's origin, all done within the opening credits. The movie then catches up to Bruce Banner who is in hiding from American authorities while trying to discover a cure for his condition. He has cut off all communication with the world except for one mysterious character known as Mr. Blue, who he communicates through instant messaging. The American military led by General Thunderbolt Ross tracks down his whereabouts and sends a group of soldiers to capture him in order to exploit his condition. Banner, who escapes their attacks eventually ends up back in America where he reconnects with Betty Ross and continue their search for a cure. The rest of the movie then becomes a cat-and-dog chase between Banner and Betty with General Ross and a soldier named Blonsky.

If you payed attention to the production of this movie then you'll know that Edward Norton and Louis Leterrier & Marvel were constantly butting heads about the direction of the movie. Norton who helped pen the script (under the name Edward Harrison), wanted a more story & character driven movie while Marvel wanted a more action based movie. I can't blame Marvel for feeling at odds with his script, I mean, Ang Lee's version of the movie, while critically acclaimed, was a financial bomb and was disliked by the general public because of its slower, more story driven approach. They were just trying their best to avoid a repeat disaster. While Lee's version was layered with parallel stories between the broken relationships of fathers and sons/daughters, Leterrier's version is a more typical action-filled chase story.

Leterrier, who did the Transporter films and Unleashed, is no stranger to action, and does a pretty fine job of knitting together action scenes while at the same time never making it feel tiring. The end boss final battle between Hulk and Abomination is probably one of the best fight sequences of all Marvel movies. Overall, I think I enjoyed Lee's version more, for trying to take a new direction with superhero movies instead of making it another action-based fodder. That said, I still enjoyed the popcorn summer blockbuster approach by Leterrier; it was what it set out to be.

One of the things that added to my enjoyment was all the subtle hints of potential sequel ideas as well as continuity with other Marvel properties. One big hint is with the quirky Tim Blake Nelson who may be playing the "lead" villain in a sequel. Another huge hint is the ending, featuring a cameo by another well known property. Some of the geeky easter eggs to look/listen for (*spoiler-ish*): Stark Industries software, Dr. Reinstein, Super Soldier Serum, Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. There may be a ton that I missed, but these are the ones I caught, and each one filled me with glee.

The actors did the best with what they were given, although for some characters it wasn't much. Notably, Liv Tyler's Betty Ross and Tim Roth as Blonsky seemed a bit wooden. There was no real emotion to them, and no real connection to the audience. However, casting William Hurt as General Ross was a great move, as he always delivers.

Overall, it was a fun movie. I recommend catching it on a big screen with big sounds. Oh, there was no hidden scene after the credits, so save your 5 minutes for something else.

Categories: action , incredible hulk , movies , summer blockbusters , superheroes

Unlike TNA Impact, the Slammiversary pay-per view this year was pretty enjoyable, all things considered. All the wrestling itself was fine. That said, there were a few things that were stupid. Here's a quick recap of the card (the bold indicates winner):

1. X-Division Title: Petey William(c) vs Kaz
2. The Beautiful People vs Gail Kim, ODB, Roxxi
3. TNA Tag Titles: LAX(c) vs Team 3D
4. Awesome Kong open challenge
5. Wedding of Black Machismo and SoCal Val
6. AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle
7. TNA Championship (King of the Mountain): Samoa Joe(c) vs Booker T vs Christian vs Robert Roode vs Rhino

The thing that separated this PPV from the average TNA show was that: a.) they didn't try to fit every single wrestler on the roster into the show and b.) only one of the matches had stipulations, that being the King of the Mountain championship match.

If you discount the Awesome Kong squash match(es), there were only 5 real wrestling matches. Of those, 3 of them were really well done, one was alright, and one was bad (alright = women's, tag, bad = KotM). Honestly, the only reason to watch TNA programming at all is for the X-Division and the women's Knockout division matches. Unlike the WWE, TNA actually hires women who are both beautiful and are capable of wrestling. The wrestling itself in their tag match tonight was fine, but it was the booking that was off. First of all, they introduce Mickey Knuckles (known as Moose now) as the 'muscles' for The Beautiful People. Then as soon as the match starts, Velvet and Angelina bail on her, leading to a 3 vs 1, faces on heel beatdown... not exactly making her look strong, especially on her wrestling debut. And not only that, but the faces won by pinning her! They should of at least pinned Velvet to keep her strong. I smell a turn soon.

With the Awesome Kong segment, it should have been saved for the TV tapings, not a PPV. It was too long, and she squashed them anyways, it was useless.

The King of the Mountain match was a crapfest (note: they gave away a free version of it on Impact, yet claim that it only occurs once a year, smooth). The thing that ruined this match (aside from the convoluted concept of it) yet again was a booking issue. They made Samoa Joe, the champion, look like a chump! The match was about 20 minutes, but for the first 15, Joe was basically out of action because everyone took their shots at him. Put up a fight, he did not. He wasn't able to participate in the hanging of the belt until the final 3 minutes or so, and only after Kevin Nash interfered and helped him. So your reigning world champ can't hold up a fight, and requires help to win. No buys.

All that out of the way, the other 3 matches were pretty great, with the match of the night being AJ Styles VS Kurt Angle. I was surprised that they gave AJ the win, yet booked him strong. Seeing Kurt wrestling though is cringe-worthy keeping in mind of his legit neck-injury one month ago (that on top of all his past neck injuries and problems). There was one spot where AJ did a sommersault dive outside right on to Kurt. Kurt immediately grabbed his neck, and I thought, shit, there goes the neck again. Thankfully, it was just a work, and they pulled off the rest of the match. The Karen Angle interference at the end seemed futile though.

The other two matches were pretty good as you can expect from the X-Division as well as LAX.

Not too much else to say, thumbs up.

Categories: TNA , wrestling

The Hollywood of late has seemed to think it's their duty to tap into our nostalgia; by producing sequels to movies we saw in the 80s, producing remakes, or bringing cartoons to film (eg. this film, Transformers, Rambo, the upcoming G.I. Joe, remake of F13th [much to my chagrin], etc.). For the most part, it seems to be paying off, at least financially and at the same time, it's all great for the world of geek, but is it right? I mean, there's a certain part of that nostalgic feeling that is taken away when you view it's more newer incarnation and then go back and view it's older predecessors. To me, it just seems like we're cheapening our memories and feelings for the original material all for just a mediocre-to-cheap thrill.

That brings us to this film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. I don't want to get into too much of the plot as it can get spoilerific. I'll use the synopsis from IMDB: "Famed archaeologist/adventurer Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls." The movie starts off with an exciting opening, and does well for the next 20 minutes. But then it hits a lull, the action slows down and there's more sleuthing by Dr. Jones... this seems to run on for an hour. However, once Indy and crew hit the Amazon, it's quite relentless.

Harrison Ford brings his A-game to Crystal Skull, and it's obvious that he's having fun. Indy, this time around seems to have more of a humourous edge than he did with films earlier in the series. I'm not saying he didn't crack funny lines in the past movies, but just more so. However, when it's business time, he gets down to business.

I'm not the biggest Shia fan, but he was fine (or at least tolerable) in the role of Mutt Williams. There's a few scenes where it's just so clear that they're trying to shape him up for a possible spin-off movie/series. In the final shot of the movie, Mutt does something that ALMOST seems to prove that too. And as I'm watching this, I'm slapping my face (not in the good way) because I think it's going to happen, but then... well, you'll have to see it for yourself.

In the end, I thought it was an entertaining film, but certainly not the best of the 4 (I'd order it Raiders, Temple, Crusade, and Crystal Skull... oddly enough, in the order of their release). I question the standing ovation given at its premiere screening at Cannes this year, but from what I hear, that festival is pretty fucked up anyways underneath all the glitz and glamour. In talking with my pastor last weekend (before I had seen it myself) he mentioned an element to this movie that seems to have separated it from the realm of possibilities of the others, and I'd have to say that I agree. It's definitely one of the reasons I've slotted it in fourth. It's the main subject of the movie, so I can't give it away, but you'll find out 15 minutes into the movie.

Last point of note. John Hurt is a great man. In the past few years, he's been in so many geektastic movies: Hellboy, V for Vendetta, one of the Harry Potters, now Indiana Jones, and hopefully Hellboy 2 later this summer. A quick browse at IMDB shows that he's got a ton of more stuff coming out in the next year alone, which is great given his age. And hopefully for us, it's more geekgasmic work.

Categories: action , indiana jones , movies , nostalgia , summer blockbusters

I caught The Strangers the other night, and I can say that I was mostly entertained. The movie felt like a throwback to old school 70's genre movies brought to the 21st century, sometimes channeling elements from John Carpenter's original Halloween, and the more current, Funny Games by Michael Haneke. In fact, with the exception of cell phones, there were no devices to tie the movie down to this century. I mean, they even used a record player to play music. Who does that anymore!?!? It's just fucking creepy! Supposedly, this true story occured in 2005 too. But I digress.

The first half of the movie did well to make us care for the characters as well as building suspense. The plot, for those who are unfamiliar, has a young couple returning to a remote country home late at night after a friend's wedding reception. The couple, played by Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, are themselves at an emotional state due to a marriage proposal that fell through earlier in the evening. Cue in three mysterious strangers in creepy masks who stalk and harass the couple throughout the night (it should be noted that one of the strangers sports a potatoe-sac-like-mask, perhaps a nod to Jason Vorhees of Friday the 13th Part 2?). The second half was closer to a typical thrill ride, nothing special, but nothing wrong either. Yes, the plot is paper thin, but it's the execution of it that truly delivers.

First time director Bryan Bertino understands how to create a terrifying sense of suspense. He gives the audience glimpses of the strangers lurking in the background, unbeknownst to the couple, rather than the cheap jump-scares offered by a typical-Hollywood horror flick. It's this suspense that is the strong point to this movie. To borrow a quote from Roger Ebert in describing Hitchcock's Rear Window, "A bomb under a table goes off, and that's surprise. We know the bomb is under the table but NOT when it will go off, and that's suspense." Judging by the audience reaction at the theater, it succeeded in instilling terror to its audience.

The audience is made to feel sympathetic for the couple simply because she rejected his marriage proposal, and so establishing their emotional vulnerability. Add to that mix the deranged strangers, and you've got a couple who are at a low point after another low point. The shit hits the proverbial fan, and it couldn't be at a worst time.

The only real beef I had with the movie was the final shot. It just felt like typical-Hollywood bullshit whereas the rest of the movie was a bit more bold in some of its choices.

If you're a fan of cookie-cutter horror and are expecting some cheap thrills, then this movie might not be for you. But if you're looking for a genuine fright experience, then I'd say to give The Strangers a shot.

Categories: horror , movies , the strangers

Hi people of the interwebs. This is probably the billionty-oneth blogger you've seen written by another geek. And so, I don't know if I can offer anything different or mind-blowing, but certainly I will share original thoughts, opinions... well, whatever's on my mind. That's how these stuffs work right? Hopefully more geek-related matter though (ie. genre-movies, comics, prowrestling, videogames, etc.) but also some outlooks on life and issues. We'll see what happens. This is my third foray into the world of blogging, the first two being utter, utter failures, but like I said, we'll see how this goes!

Categories: other