Just what the frack do we know about Ep. VII? Not a frell of a lot.

SWVII??????

A mega-busy and mostly great summer is almost at an end.  The last couple of weeks have been pretty heavy handed for me, but the ever so slight hints of my favorite season are popping up here and there and my inspirational imagination meter is starting to recharge. Once it's fully recharged I can deliver some wicked geek frenzy damage.  I need to escape reality for a while.

I found myself pondering what might be in store for us with the next Star Wars movie.  I woke up this morning and found myself popping Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones into my DVD player and as the film unfolded I couldn't help but wonder what the Disney and Lucasfilm folks are cooking up behind those huge, metal, chained up locked doors for the next chapter in the grand science fantasy opus.

It's surprising how very little we know so far for a film that is supposed to be released within two years.  Especially while we currently exist within this time frame of Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

As I recall while they were making the prequels we were inundated with hundreds of facts as well as rumors as to what secrets George and the gang were trying to hide from us.  I guess Disney has a far better defense plan laid out than even Lucasfilm had in its heyday.

Here's what little I know so far, rumors and facts alike.

• No official title has has been given outside of "Star Wars, Episode VII".  I suggest "Blue Harvest 2: The Return of Blue Harvest".  Or how about "Revenge of the Blue Harvest"?  Blue Harvest Vs. Sharknado"?
• Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford have all been asked to reprise their rolls as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo.  While Fisher and Hamill have both hinted that they will be involved, Ford is keeping a bit mum on if he'll be in the sequels.  Is he still holding out on Disney?  We'd all love to see Solo back in the Falcon.
• Rumors of others being cast include Jonathan Rhys Meyers (from The Tudors), Dominic Monaghan (from Lord of the Rings and Lost), Zac Efron (from Disney's High School Musical), Ryan Gosling (from Drive) and Florence Welch (from the band Florence and the Machine).

Rumors or truth here's my take on this possible castings.  Myers would make a great villain!  His Henry the Eighth in The Tudors was both despicable and dangerous with a hint of humanity about him.  

Who doesn't love Monaghan?  The guy drips with geek coolness!  I'd love to see him in a Star Wars role.

Ryan Gosling I've never really paid much attention to unfortunately.  Outside of the movie Drive, where he played a stoic and angry character, he's never come within my radar of appreciation.  Sure.  Fine.  Let's cast him and see what he can do.

I've never been a big fan of casting pretty boys just for the sole sake of getting the little girls all hot and bothered.  That's why I'm pretty uneasy with casting Zac Efron in a major role.  I find it ironic that the Twitterverse has had a major meltdown last week when Ben Afflek was cast as the new Batman, yet the rumor of placing Efron into a major Star Wars role doesn't make any waves at all.  Afflek will make a fine and formidable Batman.  But, I'm not sure having a teen heartthrob in a Star Wars role will be a great decision. Outside of a marketing move that might sell more tickets at the expense of quality, I don't see it as a good idea.

Florence Welch certainly has a good set of pipes on her as well as a strong, classic beauty.  Her look could either serve as an adventurous Jedi or foreboding Dark Force user.  I know she has yet to show her acting chops on film as of yet.  It will be interesting to see if her casting is true and what roll she may play.

Let's continue with what we may or may not know, shall we?

• Obviously we know that the next three sequels will take place thirty to forty years after the battle of Endor which occurred at the end of Return of the Jedi and may focus on the Skywalker and Solo children.  The offspring of the heroes of the original trilogy have become major characters in the literature of the expanded universe.  It is unclear if they plan to fully acknowledge the characters and happenings in these books.  After all (spoiler alert!) the Star Wars universe was nearly destroyed by the alien forces of the Yuuzahn Vong and I'm doubting that storyline will be put into play for the sequels.
• The script is being written by academy award winner Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine) from an outline scripted by Star Wars creator George Lucas and will be produced by Disney's Kathleen Kennedy.  Good move.  Keep the original soul of the series by using Lucas as a advisor and have a writer that really gets character development.
• Supposedly, Emperor Palpintine, Obi-wan Kenobi and possibly Anikin Skywalker may return as Force Ghosts.  At this point there's a 50 / 50 chance of that happening.  For some reason I see them going with all new characters and won't try and drudge up too much of the past.  I could see maybe a Force Ghost or two popping up within the sequels.  But, I don't think they will be bringing back every Tom, Dick or Harry of anybody in the past movies who had a connection to the force and is now demised.
• John Williams will be back to write the score. This is probably the only actual fact that has been confirmed so far and a very welcome one at that!

That's about it.  Disney is keeping a pretty tight lip on anything else that may be going on.  Now here's a few things I'd like to see in the next Star Wars movie.

• First and foremost, I want there to be a cool as heck, creepy and wicked Sith Lord or at least Dark Force user to be one of the main villains.  Someone brand spanking new.  Someone who is so scary he or she would make little children cry.  Darth Maul was pretty darn close, but he ended up being just a henchman that had about a total of 15 minutes screen time.  LET'S BRING THE EVIL!!!!
• If they're not going to use too much of Han Solo, I'd like there to be another, new character who has that same kind of swashbuckling, rouge-like, dry humored personality.  This kind of character was all but ignored in the prequels and would be more than welcomed in the sequels.
• Speaking of humor, a lot of it was dry, sarcastic and actually funny in the original trilogy.  The prequels' humor was geared strictly to little children in a sad and pathetic slapstick kind of way.  Lets get back to the quotes and cracks that were geared to not just children, but adults as well.
• Keep some of the mainstays of the Star Wars films.  I want to see the opening crawl in yellow font against the stars.  I want there to be multiple planets they visit, each with their own geography and weather system.  I want there to be that feeling of pulp.  I want to feel like I've come home when I see the next few films.
• I don't want them to rely on 95% of green screen and CGI.  I want to see some actual sets built on actual sound stages and locale shooting fercrisakes!

As the time for the release of the new Star Wars sequels grow closer and closer I'm sure more and more info will leak out, but I'm starting to get impatient.  I'm starting to get that jones I got back when they were making the prequels and the slightest on set photo of anything, even a plant arrangement on the set, would throw me into a mad tizzy of happiness and joy.

In the meantime, maybe the people from Disney should take this guy's Star Wars story into consideration during the scriptwriting process.  The greatest filibuster ever depicted on TV!  So I'll end this with Patton Oswalt's mad, wonderful genius!

Of course things here in this blog will slowly start to get creepy, spooky and downright macabre as the Halloween season approaches.  So keep tuned and I may just be inspired enough to post more.

Until next time, stay vertical!

Zangz.

Boldly Going Where They've Kinda Gone Before in an Altered Parallel Universe, Somewhat Annoyingly, but Overall Enjoyably...

What follows is quasi-spoilerific review of Star Trek: Into Darkness.  It's near impossible to do a review of the movie without a good dose of hints that could be viewed as spoilers.  So it is advised if you don't want any of the story-line spoiled for you, come back and read this post after you have seen the film.

You have been warned!

Here we go.

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS:

Before I get into the issues I had with the film, it is important to note that I really did enjoy this film.  I found it a fast paced action, sci-fi romp with lots of effects that will keep you at the edge of your seat to the very end.  All of the actors involved give great performances with what they've been given.  The action pieces are well choreographed and thrilling and I hope it's not another four years until the next one.

Having said all of that, there were some things that did bug me about the story.  I can only imagine that they probably cheesed off a lot of die hard Star Trek fans as well.

The story follows the crew of the USS Enterprise as they try and hunt down an ex Star Fleet officer who is causing terrorist attacks against the organization and the world.

I've always been more of a Star Wars guy myself, but I always enjoyed and respected the Star Trek canon.  When the first J. J. Abrams' Star Trek movie came out and not only rebooted the movie series, it also realigned the whole Star Trek universe, I applauded the efforts and enjoyed the hell out of this first film.  You can read my review HERE.

That movie truly made me want more as soon as possible.  Abrams had created a whole new, fresh Star Trek galaxy to play with in future films by creating a storyline that involved a parallel universe slightly different than the one in the shows and films that had come before.  I always thought that this was a great way to create an open canvas to push forward more original Star Trek stories.

I guess I was a bit wrong in that assumption.  What they've done with Darkness is pulled from and retread an old, classic Star Trek story that could very well be considered one of the Holy Grails of all Star Trek stories.  After my initial viewing I think it could have been handled a little better.

There is one particular scene that was ripped right from the original source material that I'm sure the writers thought would be an excellent nod and homage to its predecessor.  Instead of giving it a whole new, fresh view, they take it almost word for word, with roles being reversed.  The scene is too quick and comes off as though they were intentionally trying to be cutsey and cleaver.  Instead, I felt it undermined the original scene while not carrying the same weight.  It could be argued that the writers were trying to simply placate Trekkie's.  I think they may have pissed them off more so.  I'm not even a Trekkie, and the scene made even me a little uneasy and queasy.

What's even worse is the scene is concluded with one line that is uttered that hearkens back to that embarrassing scene from Revenge of the Sith where Vader rises from the surgery table for the first time dressed fully in the black garb and shrieks....."NOOOOOOOOO!"  Yep.  It could be argued as being that bad.  It really didn't need to be in there.

The movie is also filled with a plethora of plot holes.  If I bring them up it may spoil the story for some, but I will give a brief example.  Both Klingon's and a Tribble are in this movie. Even though the Klingon's are part of a big, cool as hell, action sequence, their reason for being in the the story is never really satisfyingly revealed.  The Tribble's existence in this film seems more as a quick cameo until it plays an "important" part in saving a crew member.  Although it doesn't come off as being "important" as it does a last minute story idea to paint the writers out of a corner they may have painted themselves into towards the end of the movie.

The characters we all fell in love with in the first movie are all present and equally represented as they were in the first.  Others have more to do in this one, but they all have their moments, keeping in mind that the characterization that we saw in the first flick is given way to fast action and grand set pieces.

Admittedly, I'm not usually this critical about genre films. Hell, I'm the kind of geek who you could plop down in front of some film of non-stop explosions and I'd be as happy as a dullard clam.  But, something slightly irked me with this film.  I really wanted this one to be every bit as good, in more ways than being just a good action movie, than the first.

I honestly wasn't bothered by the way the original history was tampered with in the last film, but this time there were things that left a sour taste in my mouth.

Perhaps I was under the impression that Trek deserved a little more effort in the story of Into Darkness than it delivers.  I wanted to love the heck out of this movie and really looked forward to it.  And in the end I was really entertained, but the story needed more effort.  Something went slightly wrong with this one.

I'm not here to be caustic or a troll.  I'm not saying that this is any way a horrible movie.

I'm more than sure J. J. and the gang will be giving us more Trek in the future and I'm hoping that they move away from the miss steps in this one.

Not being an insanely huge Trekkie, I'd be really interested in what other people think of the film.  I don't usually ask for comments, but if you've seen the film, let me know if I'm being overly critical here.

Zangz out!

Dark Times Ahead?

We're well into the year of 2013 and things aren't going as swimmingly as one would hope.

The podcast that I blogged about in the last post is now defunct due to a sudden lack of technological accessibility as well as one of the talents calling it a day.  The winter here in the Northern Midwest will not let go of its chilling temperatures.  My bank account is taking a severe beating while I'm simply trying to survive while working a full time job.  Even though we have a progressive president in office, we still tend to get thrown over the coals by the very institutions that are supposed to assist those of us that actually want to work and make a decent living (I'm looking at you Banking, Health Care, Oil, Technology and Wall Street industries).

Last, but in certainly, no means least, I look in the general direction of the "fine folks" at Disney.  Those of us that are Star Wars fans took trust in you when you acquired the greatest franchise in all of fandom history.  We had an open mind that the Corporate D-Bag in you would not rear its ugly head when it was announced that J.J. Abrams would helm the next Star Wars film.

But, now we're not too sure about your intentions.  Within the last month, you've been making decisions that can be paralleled to the "hit" scenes from Goodfellas....

"Ka-Pop!" - Seth Green's Star Wars: Detours was completely shelved right after it was green-lit from Lucasfilm prior to Disney's purchase.  It would have been fun to see a Star Wars parody from the fine folks from Robot Chicken.  Now it's found dead in a pink car in an alley with a bullet hole to the head.

"Crush-Smack-Gerrrck!" - The heavily revered animated Clone Wars series is cancelled mid season during a crucial story-line involving one oft he main characters like it was just found, lifeless,  in a garbage truck.

"Thunk-Shunk-Brrrrrr" - Lucas Arts is shut down completely while 150 people find themselves without jobs.  One of the greatest video gaming companies is stuck on a hook in a meat freezer.

My original fears of the Disney takeover are starting to take root once again.  Disney has put itself in a position that is not beneficial to the Star Wars fans legions these last few months.

I get that they want to put all their efforts into the sequels, but unless they are equipped to bring out the Citizen Kane of all Sci-Fi / Fantasy films within the next three years, they have put the burden upon themselves to prove to us that they are sincere in their intentions for the quality of the Star Wars franchise, and not just after the almighty dollar.

We're all hoping that we're not going to be brought into a empty room with the very people we trusted putting a bullet to the back of our heads.

Only time will tell,  I guess.  But, in the meantime, the land of the almighty Princesses and the Mouse have a lot of explaining to do.

And, NO!  I don't feel like linking every frackin' reference this time. Google it!  I'm too frackin' grumpy.

Zangz.

Venturing into the podcasting world... again.

Out of the gate, I'd be quite remiss in not saying to you all....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's hoping that this year exceeds the happiness that you experienced last year!

On to it...

Several years ago I had my own podcast in conjunction with this blog that was called, Zangz's Pod of Geekdom.  Many of the old episodes can be found at iTunes, right HERE.

I had a lot of fun doing it and was lucky enough to know someone with the technical prowess to help me out and give me a place on the net.  If you listen through the episodes you'll notice that my podcast is a good example of how a podcast sounds in its infancy and grows to sound more professional.

Why did it come to an end?  I let my insecurities get the best of me.  I started out the first several shows with just myself on the mic, droning on about whatever topic I picked.  Although these were produced just fine, I cringed at hearing myself babble with my god awful, non-broadcast friendly voice.

I was able to con friends into coming on my show and have interviews and round table discussions about various geeky subjects.  I think that these shows were the Pod of Geekdom's pinnacle in entertainment (especially the Star Wars 30th Anniversary Shows).  It was at this point the producer of the show lent me his digital microphone so I could record shows on my own.

After a while, trying to get friends to come on the show proved futile since most of them had families to take care of and busy lives.  I really didn't want to carry on as a solo act since I sounded horrible when it was just me.  Also, trying the upload the show so my producer could edit it also proved a great  dilemma as technology hates me and bandwidth and internet issues plagued me.

Admittedly, I let the show fall to the wayside and it slowly died out.  Looking back, I cringe at letting that happen.  Now hundreds of thousands of geeky podcasts are all over the web.  Would mine still be relevant in this day in age where all a kid needs is some programs on his or her computer and a microphone?  Would it even compete with the podcasts that are out there today?  I don't know and will never find out.  My own fault!

Since then I have always had this pipe dream to get back into it in one capacity or another.  As luck would have it, my friend, Spanky (who was a guest on my show a few times) has created his own "media empire" through his side company Counterfeit Press LLC and has created his own pod cast.

I am one of the three guest hosts (made up of Spanky, Ken Benobie and myself, Zangz (AKA: Jedi John... but, I may try and see if I can change that to Jedi Johnny Boy.) of The Counterfeit Press Podcast.  It's brand spankin' new and we have posted our first show and just recorded our second.  We're still awaiting approval from iTunes and hope it will be there soon so that you will be able to check us out there.

In the meantime you can download us at the Counterfeit Press website RIGHT HERE.  It's the website that has the cool and cute robots on it.  Not as cool as the robots that will be in Pacific Rim or as cute as the T-1000 models portrayed by Shirley Manson and Summer Glau, but cool and cute just the same.

The show is based off of pop culture happenings, geeky interests, and Ken's unhealthy and unnatural love for Selina Gomez.  But don't let that distract you.  Download us and check us out, won't you please?

That's it for now kids.  Stay Vertical!

Zangz.

Families...Hug your little Hobbits!

I might not be a parent, but I am an uncle to a wonderfully precocious twenty month old little girl we call "Lil G".  If anything would ever happen to her, it would leave our family devastated into a realm of eternal darkness.

The travesty in Connecticut this weekend sent the world into a dark and horrible place where young, innocent lives were snuffed out for no good reason at all by a mad, delusional, gun toting, cowardly monster .

These sort of tragedies are starting to occur a little more often than they should.  Those of us who may be more open to the worlds of the fantastic would akin it to the rising of Sauron in J.J.R. Tolkein's fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings.

After wallowing in the sadness of Friday afternoon, I found I wanted to escape reality for a while.  Having had a pretty heavy work week, I almost forgot that Peter Jackson's magnum opus prequel to his Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was opening that day.  I decided to treat myself and go see the 3D showing of the movie.

It may sound trivial, shallow and infantile to mix these two subjects in a blog post, but quite honestly, it's my way to cope.  The world can be an ugly place and it's the realms of fantasy that can briefly take us away from it.

At the last minute I was lucky enough to find a single seat in a showing that was nearly sold out.  I didn't fully intend on seeing the 48 fps / 3D showing, but it was the earliest showing I could get into and I didn't want to be stuck waiting in the theater's bar for over three hours before the next available showing.

I'll try and make this brief and spoiler free as possible.

Let me hit upon some of the issues that have been brought up in many other on line reviews.  First the whole 48 Frames Per Second "issue" that was brought up a few months ago after theater owners were shown some footage and didn't like it at all.

Truth be told, it's not an issue.  The film looked pretty darn good!  Almost lifelike without it turning into a whole Sid and Marty Kroft Productions type look.  It was snappy and crisp with the 3D adding to it's grand visual vibe.  I had no problems with it.  It still retains a film feel, but not nearly as much as the previous Lord of the Rings (LOTR) movies did.  Some may take issue with that, but it took nothing away from me.

Second, no, this isn't quite the same feel as the LOTR trilogy.  It still has the same settings and set decor look that LOTR had, but the story felt a little more rushed.  A hell of a lot was thrown into the two plus hours of the film.  There was a slower cadence in the LOTR that seems to be missing here.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.  Just different.

Third, I didn't feel quite as emotionally invested in the characters as I was in the last films.  Don't get me wrong, Martin Freeman is a delight as Bilbo Baggins and Richard Armitage is kickin' ass and taking no prisoners as Dwarven king, Thorin Oakensheild.  And of course Andy Serkis is phenomenal as Gollum, especially in the pivitol "quiz" part of the story.  It may be the fast pace that takes over the movie in the 2nd half that may have something to do with it.  It may also be that you have to concentrate on a group of twelve dwarfs as opposed to a few hobbits.  I have the feeling that we're in for more character development in the next two films (The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again).

Fourth.... CG'd Orcs.  This was really the only big thorn in my side about the movie.  I'd pick an actor in a rubber orc suit to play the main villain over an obviously computer generated one any day.  It ends up looking like a character who should have been in Brave rather than The Hobbit.

It may sound like I really wasn't into the film.  But, nothing could be further from the truth.  I thought that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was an excellent film and just the right ticket to get my mind off of the horrible events that occurred earlier that day.  At least for a little while.

If you loved The Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, you will also love The Hobbit, but perhaps not quite in the same way.  If you're a fan of the novel and you are someone who has read it many times, this film will be pure magic for you as Jackson and the other script writers have gone well out of their way to make sure that there are pivotal scenes and little nuances that you will recognize and love.

I can tell you that when the film came to an end the audience applauded with enthusiasm and I pretty sure I heard an actual "Squeeee!" of joy come from someone in the theater.  Deservedly so.

Much like the LOTR trilogy always leaving me wanting more, this film left me excited for next year's sequel, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  If we can make it through that whole Mayan end of the world thing this coming Friday, we're in for a real treat next X-Mas as well as the 2014 holiday season.

I'm not sure that I'll be posting on or around the Christmas holiday, so if I don't.....

HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY X-MAS!

And if you have little hobbits running about in your home, be sure to give them and extra special hug this season.

Stay vertical!

Zangz.

SKYFALL!!!!!

Where the hell to begin this post is something I've been mulling over for the last few days after my Friday night viewing of the 23rd installment of the James Bond movie series.  Where does one start with a masterpiece that is so epic and important to the history of James Bond?  I guess I'll start right here....

FRACKIN' EPIC SUCCESS!  Congrats to Sam Mendes, Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan for giving us one of the best Bond films of all time!

Yes, I'm still gushing over it.  I was hoping that the two days of space would give me time to be able to plant my feet in reality and give a decent, fair handed review.  But, I'm still crushing over it like a silly school girl.

Before I venture forth into the world of espionage and techno terrorism, I should warn all of you folks who have dilly dallied and not gone to see the film yet, that my review will have SPOLIERS, since it is damned impossible to not go over this movie and not let some cat out of some sort of bag.  So....

SPOILERS AHEAD!  READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK!

S K Y F A L L

 

We we're all under the impression that we'd already seen the "reboot" of the James Bond series in Daniel Criag's first outing as Ian Fleming's super, British spy when Casino Royale hit movie theaters.  After seeing Skyfall, I realized that the reboot was just starting with Casino and that Skyfall is the actual finale of the reboot which becomes very apparent by the end of the film.

This film is what Quantum of Solace should have been.  Or at least Quantum should have been every bit as powerful of a story as Skyfall is.  But, it wasn't and although Quantum is a darn fine Bond film, it is no match for Skyfall and proves its weaknesses a little more harshly if viewed along side Skyfall.

The storyine of Skyfall is simple enough.  M and Bond lose a disk drive that contains the actual names and covers of all of the NATO agents that have infiltrated terrorist organizations.  The disk gets into the hands of a former MI6 agent, Silva, that had worked for MI6, under M, and has a major bone to grind with her.  He has become a techno terrorist of supreme power and not only starts to release the identities of the NATO agents on YouTube (of all places), but also seeks revenge on M and creates major destruction for MI6.  Bond, who has fallen off the map for a while, must get his act together and confront and stop Silva.  Seems basic enough, but there's a hell of a lot more to the story.

When I say Skyfall is epic, I'm not just using trendy jargon.  It clocks in at over two hours and never feels like that time has taken place.  You'll walk out of the theater looking at your watch saying to yourself, "Is it really that late?" Perhaps that has to do with the fact the you'll be riveted to the screen during the entire duration of the film.  The storyline will pull you in and never quite let go.  Never has a Bond movie ever been quite so personal and important to both Bond's history as well as his future.  Major events play out in this film that alters the Bond story as we have recently known it, while also solidifying where Bond is going in the future.  It does so in a way that is both jarring and comforting.  And that is one of the reasons that this film succeeds so well!

There are plenty of the usual Bond trappings that are honored here.  The action sequences are the kind of "seat of your pants" fare that Bond fans come to expect.  But, these scenes carry a little more grit your teeth and hold on for dear life weight to them than I have seen in recent films.  The opening motorcycle / train chase through Istanbul is a nail bitter, for sure.  There is also a beautifully shot, brutal fight sequence in a Shanghai sky scraper that is presented in silhouette against the animated city lights that is incredible and also creates more nail biting.  And the grand finale, battle royale that takes place at the movie's namesake is as explosive as any other Bond movies' grand finale ever was.  You'll be left with fleshy, bloody stumps for nails once you're done with this film.

Bond travels to exotic and down right creepy locales around the world to catch up to Silva.  The Bond women are beautiful and independent.  Well, one of them is independent.  The other is..... I'll leave that for you to find out.

Since it is the 50th anniversary of the Bond series, there are a lot of subtle nods, winks and shoulder pokes to past Bond films.  One welcome set piece is the introduction of Bond's Astin Martin that got a round of applause in the theater when it first appeared on screen where I saw it.

The gadgets are back in more subtle and not too out of this world ways as in past movies.  Q is back as well.  He's no longer an elder gentleman, but a young lad with very proficient computer and techno skills.  There's also one more welcome character that........ well.  Another treat I'll leave for you guys.  Tee Hee.  (No!  It's Not Tee Hee from Live and Let Die.  Tee Hee as in wicked giggle.)

Lets try and barrel through my assessment of the actors and characters they play as I see that this post is already getting pretty winded.  (MORE SPOILERS AHEAD!)

James Bond (Daniel Craig) - Bond is a broken individual in this chapter and he needs to regain his footing and rediscover his bond with M, his superior, to be able tocome out triumphant.  Arguably possibly the best Bond of all time, Craig dishes out the most dramatic Bond yet.  He even gets in a few good quips that have been somewhat lacking in the past two films.  Excellent job and I'm very pleased he's signed on to do two more Bond films.

Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) - THE best Bond villain of all time, easily!  People will be comparing Bardem's Silva to Heath Ledger's Joker (The Dark Night) for years to come.  A complete and twisted mastermind that is hell bent on revenge and has no qualms with killing innocent people.  There is one scene with Silva where he exposes the physical damage that he incurred while under M's leadership that is the single most disturbing and creepy moment in any of the James Bond movies EVER!  You will have nightmares!  You'll also see just how bat-shite-crazy Silva is in the last moments of the film.  Complete, wonderful nutter!

M (Dame Judy Dench) - Having played Bond's superior at MI6 since 1995's GoldenEye, Dench has become the best M ever.  Here she pulls off her most involved M roll since the series began.  She is a delight to watch whether she is chastising Bond or fighting along side him (Yep, that happens) she is a treat.

Q (Ben Whishaw) - It has been a while since we've seen a Q (MI6's Quartermaster) in a 007 movie.  And it is a welcome reunion.  Whishaw portrays his Q with an overconfidence that is strong, yet not annoying.  Him and Bond size each other up in a wonderful way and find a mutual respect for each other that I hope will carry on through future Bond films.  I think Wishaw will be a fine fit for Q in future Bond adventures.

Eve (Naomie Harris) - Initially introduced as a fellow MI6 field agent who teams up with Bond in the opening Istanbul sequence, we immediately see that her kick-assery is a testament to the modern "Bond Girl".  Maybe not the best shot, but one hell of a driver.  By the end of the film you'll see there is more to her character in relation to the Bond legend.  I've kept my eye on Naomie since I first saw her in one of my favorite zombie / plague movies, 28 Days Later and then as the mysteriously beautiful (yet in need of some serious dentistry) Tia Dalma in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.  She is a very welcome addition to the Bond film(s).  I think I have a new favorite Bond girl.  Sorry Famke.

Severine (Berenice Marlohe) - Marlohe puts a bit of wickedness and tragedy into this character.  I wish she had more screen time and played a lager role as she is one of the most visually stunning Bond Girls I've seen, yet is not just a pretty face.

Chairman Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) - At first you'll find Mallory a bit of a prickly sort as he puts both M and Bond to task when they lose the important drive.  But, in the end you'll feel he just might be a good standing character who could contribute quite a lot to MI6 and the James Bond legend.  Heck, he even gets in on the gun play action.  Old Voldermort has big shoes to fill.

Did I have any qualms with the film?  Not much at all.  Though, I liked the score, but didn't love it as I usually do with the Bond Films.  There were choice moments when the traditional Bond theme was infused in the music, but there were other times where I felt the music didn't feel like a Bond film at all.  At those times I was taken out of the Bond mythos and felt it could be any other movie.  If that even counts as a qualm, I guess that would be the only one.

This was no problem for me since I found myself riveted to the film from start to finish, but those with less of a tolerance may feel the movie is a bit long.  Any true James Bond fan will feel that the story that is being told needs an epic timeframe to let the tale settle nicely.

I know this is taking up a lot of time, but I'd be seriously remise if I didn't mention the wonderful work of cinematographer Roger Deakins.  He has filmed one of the most beautiful Bond movies in history.  The visuals and colors he's captured are beyond anything I've ever seen in Bond films.  If you're a lover of film, you'll loose you mind over what Mr. Deakins has gifted us with.  Bravo, sir!

Final thoughts?  I know that this is probably one of the best Bond films of all time as it is one of my favorites and I'll have to mull over in what order they fall into.  Top three?  Most definitely!

SPOILER!

It is most certainly the most dramatic Bond film ever!  There are things that happen in this film that are catastrophic to the Bond legend that will blow a Bond fan's mind clear into the sky.  Ten minutes before the end of this film my mouth was agape at a single moment that had just transpired before my eyeholes that left me speechless.  I had heard rumors, but didn't actually think it was going to happen.   It did. 

But, by the very end of the movie I was assured everything was going to be ok, like a small child being tucked into bed after having a nightmare.  The last scene of this film will take hard core Bond fans to a wonderful warm little place that we call..... home.  Trust me.  All the stars are in alignment, we are in familiar territory and we are left basking in the warmth of our mother's bosom.  We really, really are home! 

The film leaves us wanting to dive immediately into the next James Bond adventure, hoping that it will not be another four year wait.  I do worry about how the next Bond film will top or even equal the magic that Skyfall is.  Now they all have their work cut out for them.

GO SEE THIS FILM NOW AND STAY VERTICAL!!!!

Come this Friday, its all about 007!

The spooks have returned to the dark side for another year.  Those that fear the dark can now walk freely out in it without any worry of their soul or brains being left compromised for the dead to steal or feast upon.  Another Halloween has come and gone and I'm hoping you all had a great one and had the opportunity to do at least one thing spooky this past season.

I usually end up lamenting the Halloween season and usually use the first post after the holiday to complain, bash and generally blaspheme against the upcoming X-mas season.  Well, I'm not going to waste any energy doing so this year.  Why?  Well, usually after Halloween I have little to look forward to except cold, snowy weather and a severely injured bank account.  But, this year there is reason to be joyous!

Come this Friday, we'll all be singing the praises of Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson and Sam Mendes as they bring us, what is being touted as, THE best James Bond movie of the decade, Skyfall.

I devoted a complete blog post (may have spoilers to major plot points!) to my anticipation of this movie a while back and now the week has come where Bond will return to the theaters after a small delay due to a legal bout when MGM went bankrupt and incompetent lawyers were lagging on getting matters resolved so production on this wonderment could commence.

Friday's the day!  I have a reserved ticket to a 7:00 PM showing at a local theater and I find myself counting the minutes.  I'll be seeing it with the same people and in the same theater that I saw the last Bond film.  It's no secret that I've been a Bond fan for a very long time and the excitement when a new movie comes out is sometimes uncontrollable.

Even though I gave the last Bond adventure, Quantum of Solace some great praises in the review I posted here, I have to admit, that compared to its predecessor, Casino Royale, it was greatly lacking in both characterization and story telling.  Early reviews of Skyfall state the complete opposite.  Not only is Skyfall rumored to have an incredible story line that really explores Bond's past and demons, it also tackles his relationship with his superior, "M", a Bond fan favorite character.

there's also the matter of the main villain, Silvo, who is rumored to be one of the best Bond villains since Blofeld and Goldfinger.

Ya know, it sounds like I'm already giving the movie a review before I've even seen it.  I'll tell you what.  You can bet your sweet bippy that I'll have my review posted within the next week.  And I don't intend it to be completely spoiler free as there are some major things that get rattled about within the Bond mythos that take place in this film.

Ok, then.  The next post you'll read on this blog will be the review of the movie

S K Y F A L L.

I can't frackin' wait!  STAY VERTICAL!

Halloween Comes, Cthulhu Rises and a Mouse Acquire the Galactic Empire.....

This shall be my final post of the Halloween season.  For tomorrow night ushers in the end of "the time of the dead", where the unliving, ghouls and shadows of the night crawl back to the netherworld for another year.  It's always hard to say goodbye to the best season of the entire year only to then have to hunker down and brace oneself for the craptastic holiday season.  But, I think I had a pretty good run this year.

I went to three Haunted Attractions, dank numerous Octoberfests and Pumpkin ales, went to a couple of Halloween parties and watched quite a few Halloween themed YouTube videos, some of which I shared with you all here on my blog.

I'd like to share one more big one with you.  Throughout the last decade or so I got myself aquatinted with the spooky world of the Cthulhu  Mythos that was created by the late author H.P. Lovecraft.  Lovecraft's works have greatly influenced the modern horror genre.  It would take up quite a few blog posts to explain exactly what I'm posting about.  So, as a special Halloween treat, I give you a documentary on the author and his writings.  Even if you're not aquatinted with Lovecraft's works, I think you'll find this show very interesting.  It's a bit on the long side.  So I suggest you turn off the lights, sit down with your last Octoberfest or pumpkin ale and your favorite snack and enjoy the world of Cthulhu.

That's probably the most educational thing I've posted here in the history of this blog.  I think I just gained a +20 to my Intelligence roll.  I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting as hell.


Ok.  I didn't plan to write about anything Star Wars related during the Halloween season, but how can I not mention the big ass Star Wars news elephant that is sitting in the middle of the room as of today.  If you've had your head up a Bantha's sphincter for the last several hour, it was announced that the Walt Disney Corporation will acquire all of Lucasfilms as well as all the rights to all things Star Wars.

HOLY FRACKIN' CRAP!!!!!

Talk about a mind blowing announcement!  Oh, but wait.  There's more.  Disney plans to actually make Star Wars, Episodes 7 through 9.  George Lucas has vehemently denied that these movies would ever get made.  But, since he's selling his Star Wars empire to Disney for FOUR BILLION dollars I guess The House of Mouse needs to make a few bucks back.  God I hope they don't frell these films up.

I have mixed feelings about this.  On one hand I'm always cautious of a uber-conglomerate taking control of anything I love.  Huge corporations usually have only one thing on the mind, and that's $$$$$$$.  And they usually are quite quick to compromise and distort anything beloved by millions for the ultimate, almighty dollar.  Disney is no exception.

But, on the good side, they did buy Marvel Entertainment and look how friggin' good Marvel's The Avengers turned out to be.  If they focused on the fans wants and needs for Star Wars, they could really bring some exciting stuff to the table.  We'll have to wait this all out and see what transpires.


And that is it for the Halloween Season for me.  The next thing to get excited about?

And to all of you......

Stay Vertical all you ghosties and ghoulies and long leggedy beasties!

Revisiting Old Haunts

This past Friday me and my old spook hunting buddy, Roberto, took to the old country roads in search of ghosts and ghouls and things that wander throughout the night.  We decided that we were going to visit two local Haunted Attractions that were not too far from Roberto's home.  We've visited these haunts before and were wondering how they had changed this year.

One haunt we visited for the first time just last year.  The other haunt we hadn't visited in a few years.

We didn't have a Mystery Machine, but we did have a Nissan SUV and a Tom Tom unit that helped us guide our way.  The first haunt that we visited was pretty easy to find since it was just down the highway from Roberto's.  It was an old, abandoned High School known as.....

HAUNTED HIGH - Touted as being America's only haunted high school and largest Midwestern haunt that would be closing after this year's haunt season, how could we say no?  The building itself is large, dimly lit from the outside and a bit foreboding.  The wait to get in wasn't too bad as we got there just before the haunt started its walkthroughs.  The only annoyance was the group of tweeners yapping and yelling and acting like a bunch of buffoons in front of us.  This is why most of us who are grown up detest the Justin Beiber and Twighard crowds.  Bleh.

Things looked a lot better once we saw that they were relegated to go through in their own group leaving us with a few other adults.  Heaven be praised!  The show got on the road once we went through a small door and went down a staircase that led us down into the dark bowels of the old school.

Having visited this haunt last year we were expecting a few changes and upgrades since then.  Unfortunately, there were very few if any at all.  I suppose when you're running a haunt that will be in its last year, I guess you figure, "Why spend more money on anything that will not be used again."  The facility will be torn down in the year to come to make way for affordable apartments.

This haunt did not change that much from the last time I reviewed it last year.  So read my old review here for a slightly more in depth description of the haunt.  One improvement they did make was that they had no Glee tie-in this year that kind of dumbed down the climax of last year's show.

It's sad to see a haunt close down when it still had a lot of room to grow and get better.  Oh, well.  On to our next dark adventure.

The next haunt was about 10 miles away, out in the countryside.  Being out in the middle of nowhere on a deathly cold night with only the full moon as your only light certainly added to the ambiance of our next haunted attraction.......

THE DARK SIDE - The first couple of times we visited this haunt, we always left feeling that it was a good solid spookfest that, in time, could grow and change to be a big haunt.  And it looks like they've tweaked some things and have added to the experience.  It was definitely an improvement since we were last there.  The waiting area has changed from being an outdoor wait to being inside of a huge and very dark hay barn.  You can barely make out the giant grim reaper that towers over the crowd as we wait to go through.  I guess if I had any issues with this haunt, it would be the wait.  It is a very long wait in a unheated barn.  Dress warm since they let 25 people people through at a time (at first) and then wait a good 15 minutes for the next 25.  We arrive at the haunt at around 8 PM and didn't start to go through the haunt until 9 PM.

But, once we got going and were led outside of the barn, the creep show started!  We were told the spooky history of the farmland and then led up a hill to a creepy old mine shaft.  The groups of 25 were then broken down into groups of 2 or 3.

The mine shaft was the first of the sections that this big haunt was broken down into.  "Decent" was the first chapter in the Dark Side's haunted farm.  The old mine that we had to traverse was one of the highlights of the haunt.  Great setting and effects!  It plopped us out to the next chapter, a moonlight tractor ride through the dark woods called Twilight Nightmare (not at all to be confused with the horrible, glimmery vampires!).  This part of the haunt included some fire breathing dragons and totems. It also had some ghouls come along for the ride.

The tractor plopped us out at the next section of the haunt, "Backwoods Revenge".  The walk in the woods featured a plethora of inbred hillbillies stalking us as we made our way through a graveyard and a messy butcher shop.

Once we found our way out of the woods, we came to a small corn maze filled with more hillbillies ("Schizophrenia").  These rednecks went out of their way to keep us going in circles for a while before we found the last attraction, "Foxglove Nursery".  Imagine a plant nursery where some sort of toxic chemical gets mixed with the plant life within.  There are a few plant people we had to contend with to find our way back out to the parking lot and to safety.

I have to tell you that the price hike from the years past was well invested.  They've added a lot more here and have gotten their barring on how to run an outdoor haunt.  The haunt lasts around the 40 minute mark which is pretty fantastic!  The wait can be a bit of a grind and they could put a few more effects during the tractor ride to pace it out better.  But, in the end it was fantastic!

So I visited three haunts this season, two more than last year.  I don't think I'll be lucky enough to go to to the six or more that I did in the good old days.  But, I enjoy the ones I can visit.


Speaking of visiting haunts, here's another virtual visit to a wonderful haunt through the magic that is YouTube.

Alice Cooper has been a favorite performer of Roberto's and mine for a very long time.  He's always incorporated some hefty doses of horror, gore and gallows humor into his songs and concerts.  It makes perfect sense that he would lend his imagination to a haunted maze at this year's Halloween Horror Nights.

So sit back, turn off the lights and enjoy Alice Cooper Goes to Hell through the eyes of the people at Sharpe Productions' YouTube channel.

That will be all for this post.  I hope to post something else very soon before the Halloween season is completely over, so keep an eye out for it.

Until next time, stay vertical!

Finally! A Decent Horror Film to Enjoy.

In a previous blog I was bemoaning the issue that it had been quite a spell since I had seen a Horror movie that I really enjoyed.  Well, last weekend I rented a German movie that I finally had a darn good time watching.  It wasn't one of the greatest movies, but in a genre that is infested with the same old, same old, it was refreshing.

The movie I speak of is called....

We Are The Night.

I've never been a big, artsy-fartsy fan of foreign films.  I know they have a lot to offer in our artistic culture of film, but I don't cotton well to trying to read subtitles during a movie that is filled to the gills with long stares and awkward silences.  YAWN!

But, I forged on through this film and was pleased I did (I set it on the English audio.  Hee).

From the get go, this film grabs your attention and tells a decent, modern day, vampire story the way it should be told.  And that is with some ass-kickin' and vampires that do little brooding.

The story revolves around a young, street savvy girl who is a small time thief.  Her life drastically changes when she is seduced and plunged into the world of the blood sucking dead.  As she learns the ways of being a part of a sexy, female vampire brood, she also yearns for the human life she left behind.  And of course, it all slowly falls apart.

The Germans did in one film what the Twilight films continue to fail miserably at.  And that's tell a decent, modern day vampire tale.

Sexiness, bloodshed, action sequences are all part of the formula that got my interest level all oozed up into this film.  Sure, there are some sexy vampiresses in this movie.  But, there's also a decent story.

Just check it out for yourselves.  If you like a good vampire story, it's worth it.


Quickly, we are coming to an end of the Halloween season and I have at least one more post for you that will be in the spooktacular vein.  I also may just have another Haunted Attraction review for you.  Cross your fingers.

Until next time, stay vertical!