Category: Movies

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You Should Skip ‘See It/Skip It’!

Rotten Tomatoes forced me to watch their new show ‘See It/Skip it’ in order to get the Tomato Score for Justice League yesterday, and I won’t be doing it again.  Thanks to Metacritic I already knew what the score would probably be, but because Justice League is a major film, especially for a DC geek like me, I was super curious.  It was a mistake I will not be making twice.

Listen, even if they pull this, “We aren’t going to post the score until after the show airs for a few hours!”, nonsense again.  I will just be patient and wait for every other media outlet on the internet to tell me what it is because ‘See It/Skip It’ is almost unwatchable.  The hosts have no charisma, or any chemistry together, and it all comes off super scripted.  Plus, I am not sure why I am supposed to take their advice over the advice their website is already giving me.  For the record they both said ‘See It’ for Justice League that way you will know what everyone is taking about Monday, but that they didn’t think it was very good.  Which is kind of an odd stance to take.

Anyway, ‘See It/Skip it’ is a waste of everyone’s time.  There is so much other stuff to read and watch on the internet about movies, and I am sure just about all of it is better than ‘See It/Skip It’.  I am hoping Rotten Tomatoes will have a Tomato Score for its own show because it will not be good.

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Did Rotten Tomatoes Forget That Metacritic Exists?

So by now I am sure that you have heard that Rotten Tomatoes is withholding Justice League critic reviews and the ‘Tomato Score’ until it streams its new show ‘See It/Skip It’, and if Rotten Tomatoes was the only critic aggregating site in town it might make sense to use its popularity to promote its new show this way, but guess what?  It is not.  If you want to go see a bunch of reviews with an average score just click on over to Metacritic.

I can save you some clicking and just tell you that Justice League is doing okay.  Not great, but much better than Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad.  Apparently the story is rushed nonsense, but the characters are great, so if you love Bats and Wondy, there is a good chance you will like this movie because they act like their true selves.  In other words, the dialog works, so it sounds like the Joss Whedon part of the flick works.  I will find out myself on Friday and then let you know what I think on Monday.  If things work out as planned that is.

Anyway, if Rotten Tomatoes makes this delaying the reviews thing a normal deal.  There are other, and some may say better, places to get the same info.  In this case, Metacritic.com.

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Dynamite Wants Red Sonja To Get Some Of That Wonder Woman Money!

Dynamite Entertainment, the current publisher of Red Sonja comics, has optioned their fiery red headed barbarian to Millennium Media to be turned in to a feature film … again.  Last time it didn’t go so well making only $6 Million on a $17 Million budget, but they think with the success of Wonder Woman that now is the time to try again.  I am not so sure.  While her currant comic book run has been successful, Red Sonja is not the women’s power icon that Wonder Woman is.  She is more of a pin-up, and kind of always has been, but they have tried to change that recently.  All that being said, it has been a while since someone has made a good sword and sandals epic, so here is hoping they do Hyrcania’s fiercest warrior justice!

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Ragnarok Came For Thor, And It Was Glorious!

Thor finally got the movie he deserves.  It is big, loud and silly, and he got to bring his friend from work along for the ride.  That is not to say Thor: Ragnarok is a perfect movie, just that it is way better than Thor’s two previous films, and Taika Waititi proved that a director’s unique talent and style can add to a film not just take away from its marketability.

As far as timeline goes, Thor: Ragnarok takes place some time after Thor: The Dark World, but not much longer after Doctor Strange.  Thor apparently has been busy looking for Infinity Stones, but he was not having much luck, so he has decided to make sure that the prophesy about Ragnarok (the end of Asgard) never comes true.  Things were looking up until his long lost sister Hela comes to visit and throws a wrench in his plans.

Thor: Ragnarok is probably the funniest of the MCU films.  There are jokes and sight gags galore.  It is apparent that Taika Waititi set out to make this movie a comedy above all else, and the comedy is what works best.  Whether it be buddy moments between Banner/Hulk and Thor, or the brother versus brother one-upmanship of Thor and Loki.  It is all great, and it all works well.

What works less well are the action scenes.  It is almost like they were thrown in to remind us that this is a Marvel movie.  Like some suit reminded Waititi that Ragnarok sill needed its three or four major MCU action sequences.  They are not bad, but they are just not as good as the film’s lighter moments, and some of them feel a little obligatory.  What is worse is that all the money seemed to spent on The Hulk and the movie’s amazing sets, so the CG for all the fights and chases don’t look quite right.

The actors from all the previous films continue to be great, but the new additions really hold their own.  Obviously we all know that Cate Blanchett is extremely talented, and she was clearly enjoying herself as the over the top Hela, snarling with glee in all her scenes.  Tessa Thompson was also very good as the conflicted Valkyrie.  Not to mention this movie also throws Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum in to the mix, and those two almost always make any movie better.

Thor: Ragnarok is the movie that the MCU needed.  It is funny and unique and it reinvigorates Thor and Loki’s characters.  Before I was kind of done with them, but now I can’t wait to see what they get up to from here on out, and any extra time spent with Ruffalo’s Hulk, is time well spent.  So grab your tickets and your popcorn and go see Thor: Ragnarok.  It is a ton of fun.

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Return To Hawkins For Stranger Things 2!

After the insanely popular first season of Stranger Things, people were wondering how and if the Duffer Brothers would be able to live up to their audiences’ lofty expectations for season two.  It turns out that they followed the mold of Alien versus Aliens.  Go bigger and keep the gas peddle down.  It mostly works.  It slows down in the middle, but it recovers, and sews seeds for the future.

Stranger Things 2 (what they called their second season) also deals with how children and self medicating alcoholic sheriffs handle trauma.  The question kind of answers itself, but in general they don’t handle it well.  However, watching the cast deal with what happened last season and overcome it to deal with season two’s new threats is excellent.

Stranger things still has one of the best casts out there, and they added Sean Astin to it, so in other words it got even better.  Though not all the new additions are great.  Not to give anything away, but there are some punks you will meet halfway through the season that are little more than 80’s stereotypes.  Whether it was they way there were written or the acting, it is hard to say, but they don’t come off well.

Still one bad episode compared to eight goods ones is kind of being picky.  Most shows wish they had that kind of ratio.  The question now becomes where Stranger Things goes after season two.  Season one’s ending gave us several questions that needed to be answered.  Season two’s remaining threads aren’t near as interesting, so the Duffer Brothers will have their work cut out for them, but after two great seasons you know I will be back for season three, and based on what I am seeing on Facebook and Twitter so will you.  I can’t wait to get back to Hawkins Indiana to hang out with everyone’s favorite middle-schoolers!