Author: Shmee

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Make a Dredd Sequel Day of Action!

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As many of you know, I really liked the recent Dredd movie staring Karl Urban, so when I heard that 2000 AD the comic book publisher that created Dredd had a petition to sign to try and urge the creators of the Dredd movie to make a sequel, I signed up.

Now the people running the petition have decided to do something kind of interesting, they are planning a “Day of Action”.  The plan is that on Wednesday September 18th to try and get people to buy the DVD/Blu-Ray, watch Dredd on iTunes/Netflix, or anything else that will drive the Dredd movie up charts, so that the movie is back in the public eye, and that the movie studio executives will see that there is money to be made off the Mega City One enforcer.

Usually these fanboy petitions do not amount to much, but by asking the fans to put their money where their mouth is it may actually gain some traction.  Obviously this is a little self serving for 2000 AD since I am sure they get some kind of royalties for every Dredd item sold, but still the only way that they will make a Dredd sequel is if there is money to be made, so it makes sense to have the fans show them that money exists.

Since I already own the Blu-Ray, I am not sure if I will be participating, but on the other hand the 18th may be a good day to buy some Blu-Ray sized stocking stuffers with an angry looking judge on the cover, you can never get your Christmas shopping done too early.

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Expanded Universe Harry Potter Movie In The Works!

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Well Warner Bros and J.K Rowling finally announced what they are going to do with the Harry Potter Universe:  It looks like the will be making movies based on the authors of Harry Potter’s textbooks, so for the first one will be Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and it will be about the author Newton Artemis Fido “Newt” Scamander.  It will take place seventy years before Harry and his gang, and they are saying it is not a prequel it is just in the same universe as Harry.

I was wondering what Warner Bros was going to do with Harry Potter because it was way to profitable to not be revisited, and I think this is a great idea.  For one I think it is far enough in the past that you don’t have to worry about how it leads up to Harry’s life it can just be on its own, and it sounds like they are planning on making a series of textbook movies, so I can’t wait for one of the protection from the dark arts books.

I am also glad that they got J.K. back on board.  I am sure Warner Bros could have written a fine screenplay without her, but to have her write it will ensure that everything fits right within the confines of her world.

I have never read the books and have only watched the movies, and I am not a mega-fan like my wife, so I would love to hear what all of you out there think about this movie, and possible series of movies.

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Jack the Giant Slayer

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Jack the Giant Slayer is a 2013 film directed by Brian Singer (X-Men).  It had a large budget, and it was a pretty massive failure for Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures, so I went in with low expectations.  I was pleasantly surprised.

The story is about Jack (Nicholas Hoult) who since he was a child has dreamed about giants and adventure, but since he is a peasant farm-boy has little hope of ever fulfilling his dreams, but as fate would have it he runs in to a monk who gives him some magic beans, and he is soon on the adventure he has always dreamed of.

This film could have been just another overwrought special effects “epic”, and it kind of still is, but Brian Singer is able to bring in an element of fun that saves this film from just being a 3D slug fest.  He is able to get the cast to have just as much fun as he is having, and it carries through the screen.

Nicholas Hoult is pretty good as the title character Jack, and for his major leading role he does an admirable job, but back up cast really shines.  Ewan McGregor as Elmont the captain of the king’s guard plays the role with an wink and a nod, and he is always having such a good time that it is contagious.  Stanley Tucci is also having fun as the villainous Lord Roderick, he seems to enjoy being over the top evil.

Despite the good efforts by the cast and Singer, this movie still feels like it was designed in a boardroom to try and cash in on a popular fairy tale that they tried to prop up in to something bigger than it is, so at times its sudo-epic nature can make it feel dull and contrived.  We were just lucky that they decided to hire good talent for this particular cash grab, and it ended up better than it had it any right to be.

Jack the Giant Slayer is not a great movie, but it is a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

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I Attend Monsters University!

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Monsters University is a 2013 movie, and a sequel to the 2001 movie Monsters Inc.  The movie got all the main characters to reprise their roles, and it was directed by Dan Scanlon.  The movie was a huge success world wide pulling in over $724 Million.

The story follows a young Mike Wazowski as he tries to follow his dreams to become a professional scarer.  The problem is that he is adorable and decidedly un-scary, so he has to work at it very hard.  Meanwhile James P. “Sulley” Sullivan is a natural scarer, but is to lazy to study his craft.

The movie is actually just a standard college frat movie, but written for kids.  So if you have seen Old School or Animal House, you will kind of know what to expect here, but your four year old can watch it.  Luckily there is enough Pixar charm to cover over its generic nature.

Billy Crystal and John Goodman are great with their roles.  They seem to understand what makes a good voiceover.  The rest of the cast is good too, especially the Pixar usual suspects.  I liked that Nathan Fillion had a role too as the leader of the rival frat.

Monsters Inc. was never my favorite Pixar movie, but they did a good job with this.  If you are looking for good family film, Monsters University is a fine choice.  It is not quite the up to the Pixar classics, but it was cute, and had a lot of heart.

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Shmee Takes a Tour of Tormay!

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Being in a Kauai affords you a lot of down time, so while I was there I read the Tormay Trilogy: The Hawk and His Boy, The Shadow at the Gate, and The Wicked Day.  They were all written by Christopher Bunn.  Like a lot of indie books, none of these books tells a complete story, and they were meant to be read together, but since I got them all as part of my indie book bundle that was not a problem.

The story follows a young thief named Jute.  While doing a job for the Thieves Guild he unknowingly opens a box containing a magical knife.  He accidentally cuts himself on the knife, and is soon on journey to save the land of Tormay from the Dark with his new friend The Hawk.

At first when I started to read this book I was a little put off by its generic nature.  Young orphan who finds out he is special, save the world from the Dark, gods of Wind, Sea, Earth and Fire, and words of power, but Christopher Bunn’s excellent writing won me over.  He wrote the characters so well, I didn’t care that they are all a little familiar, and he developed his lore for the land of Tormay so well that you could almost believe that it was real place.  Even his magic system made sense.

If you are looking for a good fantasy novel to read, you could do a whole lot worse than the Tormay Trilogy.  Like most indie books the first book in the series is free right now on the Amazon store, or if you want the entire trilogy it is only $3.99, so it is cheap reading no matter how you get it.  I will no doubt be looking up more of Christopher Bunn’s books.