"If it bleeds...."

Okay, so here's my review of Troublemaker Studio's latest film addition to the Predator universe, "Predators". WARNING: SPOILER ALERT

In 1987, John McTiernan directed what is, in my opinion, one of the best science-fiction action movies ever. In the original film a special forces team led by their commander Dutch, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is sent into the South American jungle under the impression that they are rescuing a cabinet minister only to find out that they're actually busting a major arms operation, much to Dutch's dismay. After a ridiculous series of explosions the team dashes into the jungle to escape more South American bad guys, but things suddenly take a turn for the worst when an invisible enemy starts killing off the team one by one. As the events unfold we learn that the invisible assailant is non-other than an intergalactic head hunter with a face only a mother could love. The movie delivers some tense moments thanks to the extremely effective soundtrack as well as some wonderful characters and great one liners.

Since the first film, Predator has seen a few more moments in the spot light, but non that compare to the initial incarnation. Predator 2 was met with mixed reviews, though I think it's a fine movie. The AVP films are, for the most part, pretty bad, but I'm easy to please and just seeing the big, dreaded, fishnet wearing hunters on the big screen makes me giddy.

Despite the lack luster successors to the 87 science-fiction classic a firm fan base has remained and now, thanks to Robert Rodriguez's Troublemaker studios they have a film worthy of the gnarly space hunter. This latest film contrasts with the original in the best way possible. It's much grittier. Even, dare I say, more realistic. As least as realistic as such a fantasy can get. The action sequences are fast, loud, and tense. I was quite pleased with the fact that they used some of the soundtrack from the original movie as well as composing some of their shots in the same way. One big difference, not to the film's discredit, really, is that the original film introduced a set of characters that, for the most part, the audience loved. You liked the team in the original movie and you felt bad when one of them got all exploded. In this new film, that's not really the case. I'm not saying you don't like the characters, but they're nowhere near as endearing. In a very real way these characters deserve to be in the situation they're in. However, the few well placed one-liners are quite brilliant. One of my favorite moments in the film is when the death-row inmate, after it seems he's been killed, jumps up onto one of the Predator's back and starts stabbing him repeatedly while shouting, "Fuck you, ya Space Faggot!" In a lot respects this movie is a much more effective action flick. It slows down very little and delivers some really tense, well executed, combat scenes. One moment pits Hanzo, a Yakuza enforcer, against one of the Predators Samurai style. Overall, this film is fantastic. It was every bit as entertaining as the original and in some ways, a lot cooler. It seems like a natural place for the franchise to go. I, for one, hope this breath new life into one of my favorite Sci-fi badasses.

The Avengers? WTF?

Okay, so far be it from me to lay claim to the title of "all knowing comic geek", but I like to think I'm something of an authority, albeit small authority, on some comic book heroes, especially the ones I hold dear to my heart. The last decade has shown an influx in comic book movie adaptions. Now when I go to a "comic-book movie", I usually go with two important things in mind. A.) Low expectations; Cause let's face it, no Hollywood director is going to be able to live up to the way we comic book nerds envisioned our spandex and armor clad heroes. B.) Whenever I go to one of these movies I actually want to see something a little different than what I read. I like it when someone takes a little creativity with it, actually.

Now, the comic book heavy hitters, as everyone knows are Marvel and DC. DC has had some major successes, I think, with Nolan's Batman movies and Watchmen, but has had some cinematic abortions with Catwoman and Jonah Hex. Marvel has done just the same, if not with a bit more mixed feelings, with the X-men, Spider-Man, Iron-Man films being on the successful side with Dare-Devil, Electra, and Ghostrider being their "disaster" pieces.

One title that sticks out in my mind especially is the Incredible Hulk. Now, in 2003 the movie titled simply "Hulk" was released and made many weep audibly with it's shoddy script and Sy-Fy channel special-effects. However, in 2008, the Incredible Hulk was released and was such a vast improvement over the first attempt that it all but disappeared from our minds. In the newer adaption Ed Norton played the main character, Bruce Banner, who, after being exposed to a massive dose of Gamma Radiation, became afflicted with a condition that causes him to mutate into a giant, green, smashing machine simply called "The Hulk". With that film, along with the Iron-Man movies, fans saw a number of hints at the inevitable comic-to-film adaption of Marvel's popular comic series "The Avengers" which features a number of notable comic heroes including Iron-Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and several others. My personal feelings aside in regard to "the Avengers" comic series, I was looking forward to seeing this movie...that is until I found out about Marvel's casting decision in regard to everyone's favorite green, smashing machine.


Recently, Marvel studios' Kevin Feige said this, "We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in the Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks."

Now, far be it from me to make a series of gross assumptions regarding what Feige's words mean, exactly, but I have an opinion regarding it that I feel deserves to be said. It sounds to me that they're saying that Norton isn't a team player. Now, I don't know the guy, buy if any of the words from his camp are true he's sounded, to me, like he's been nothing but excited to be a part of the coming "Avengers" movie. What's more, in all of the Marvel movies made thus far I feel that Edward Norton played the most believable characters. Period. I think that Norton is one of the finest actors of our time and it seems to me that he's almost "too good" for the rest of the cast of the coming "Avengers". I realize that's a rather harsh statement, but it's what I genuinely think. I love Sam Jackson and Robert Downey, but I think Norton is in a whole different ballpark. As for the Chris's...who gives a fuck? I sure don't.

I think this whole movie is a stupid move on Marvel's part. A "big group super hero" movie is risky. Very risky. Look at the X-men films. While they were, for the most part, entertaining, they all left something to be desired in one facet or another. You get that many characters up on the screen at one time and no doubt one, if not many of them, will end up falling short of what the fans want and what the characters in and of themselves deserve.

The trend with Marvel's movies has been back and forth. They do one or two good, if not great, films and then one or two stinkers. I, for one, am not expecting much from the upcoming slate of adaptions, but we shall see.

Crazy Eights and Sun Screen

So, yesterday, I spent the day with my Grandfather, his wife, my mother, and my fiance in Winston-Salem. My grandfather is having surgery this coming week, opening night for "Pirates of Penzance", actually, and I wanted to spend some time with him. Not that I think anything bad is going to happen, but better safe than sorry, besides it's just nice to spend time with him. When I was a child I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, and my grandfather in particular taught me very much. I hold him responsible for my affinity towards the natural world. He taught me much about plants and animals, insects and what not. He was also one of the only members of my family who didn't give me a hard time when I stopped going to church, which means a lot to me still.

Yesterday, when we arrived at the hotel he was staying at, I found him and my mother outside at the pool. It was strange seeing my grandpa in swim trunks. I had brought some shorts to swim, so I changed and he got some sun block out of his car. After lathering it on we got in the pool, he, my mother and I. Vicki, my fiance, neglected to bring anything to swim in, much to my mother's disappointment. We swam for about two hours and it was a lot of fun. Brought back some memories of family vacations. Afterward, we decided to go eat. Mexican food. My mothers constant fall back when no one else wants to make the decision. It was good food. My grandpa got a giant plate of sizzling fajitas and I couldn't help but laugh when he mispronounced it.

When we went back to the hotel we spent the next three and half hours playing cards. We started with Crazy Eights. Now, I hadn't played crazy eights since I was...probably around 8 years old, ironically enough. I seem to recall it being more complicated than it actually is, but after a brief refresher we played a number of hands. It was genuinely fun playing cards with my grandpa. I had forgotten, somehow, how funny he is. After playing for a while I began to think that I probably got some of my comedic senses from him. After one hand of crazy eights lasted about thirty minutes we decided to play Rummy. Another game I had no recollection of how to play. Again, we had a refresher and started playing. It was a lot of fun.

I've never been one who follows the philosophy of blood being thicker than water. I've always felt that we really choose who our families are. That being said, my grandfather means the world to me. He has had such a profound impact on my life and I really feel that I wouldn't be half the man I am if it wasn't for him.

Transformers: War for Cybertron Review

Okay, so I hate reading reviews for videogames.

So...why do I feel compelled to write a review?

Fuck if I know, but I'm doing it anyway.

I got Transformers:WFC last week and spent about five days completing the main quest. It would have taken me a day, two tops, if I didn't have a life outside of gaming. The main quest is divided into two parts. An Autobot campaign and , you guessed it, a Decepticon campaign. For those of you unfamiliar with the wonderful world of those magnificent mechanized marvels known as the Transformers I'm going to defer you to the Wikipedia article here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers

Now, this story takes place on Cybertron, the homeworld of the Transformers and it is in the early days of the civil war between the two factions. Concerning the story, it's great. The players gets to see some really cool moments for the characters like the first time Optimus meets Bumblebee and the sorted start of the relationship between Megatron and Starscream. Script wise it's pretty basic, but it's still better then Micheal Bay's incarnation of the well loved sentient machines. Hearing some of the voices from the classic cartoon chiming in amid explosions, gun fire, and the screams of falling enemies is pretty freakin' cool too. Not to mention that unique sound of the shift from robot to vehicle that makes me shiver with geeky delight every time I hear it.

When it comes to the game play WFC is a party based third person shooter pitting you and two allies, controlled by the AI or some online friends if you so choose, against the army of the opposing faction. The levels are pretty straight forward with a beacon marker placed on the screen to help guide you through, though you should be careful and look out for extra ammo, health, different weapons, shields, and the hard to spot Autobot/Decepticon Seals you have to destroy as a side quest for achievement points. Visually speaking the levels are gorgeous, and it's easy to get lost in the virtual architecture, but luckily there are hoards of enemies to destroy. Typically, one would worry about repetitiveness in a game like this, but High Moon has done a really great job spacing different encounters out. The kinds of encounters I'm talking about are "Mini-bosses" and "Big-Bosses". You certainly stay on your toes throughout. One thing I will note, and this could be me, but it seemed that the Autobots had a much harder time than the Decepticons. It may have been just that I was learning, but I really felt much stronger by the time I was tearing things up in the guise of the Decepticons. One thing that stands up in both campaigns is that it takes quite a bit of getting used to learning the strengths and weaknesses of each character type and weapon. And that carries over a bit more when you start playing in the multiplayer.

The players get to create a total of eight unique characters. Four different character types and an Autobot and Decepticon for each. You have a few options with the aesthetics of your unique character, though it leaves something to be desired. As far as weapons and abilities, you gain experience through the multiplayer matches and as you level up new things become available.

One complaint I'll make is I feel a little more could have been done with locking onto enemies as well as some expansion with the so-called melee combat. Pressing one button down for a sluggish, clumsy swing of a weapon hardly qualifies as "melee combat", but this is a shooter first and foremost, so my complaint isn't really a harsh one, just a "man it would be cool if...." complaint.

On the whole, Transformers: WFC is a great game. Definitely worth a play through.

Transform and Role Out

And before someone has a spelling fit, make note that I am aware that it should be "roll" out, but given the main subject of the coming blog, you will understand my shift to role.

So, "The Pirates of Penzance" goes up this Thursday. I can honestly say that this is the most difficult show I've ever been involved with. See, I'm an actor, for those of you reading this that don't know me, and I've been acting for a number of years now. More and more as each year goes by. Anyway, for those of you unfamiliar with the Gilbert and Sullivan classic, or any show by good ol' G & S, their music is extremely complicated. It's Operatic, Pronunciation:
\ˌä-pə-ˈra-tik\ Function: adjective Date: 1749 1 : of or relating to opera 2 : grand, dramatic, or romantic in style or effect. Meaning, 95% of the show is singing. Ridiculous, grandiose, singing. Now, not to sound over dramatic, but this show has been particularly difficult on me. Singing has never been my strong suite. Now, I'm well aware of the fact that I can sing fairly well, but I'm also aware that it is not my strongest skill. I am a comfortable Baritone. I can sing in a Tenor part okay, but high notes are hard for me. I've been practicing so much on increasing my range as well as strengthening my diaphragm and it is showing, but this show in particular has still been so much work. I'm nervous. Singing make me nervous. I could be in front of an audience monologuing for an hour and a half and I wouldn't be a fraction as nervous as I get singing in front of people.

Nerves are a peculiar thing. No matter how many times I've gone through this same process, it's still the same. Stomach in knots. Labored breathing. And so much sweat I feel like I need a friggin' snorkel. You'd think that with such an overwhelming feeling that it might dissuade me from continuing on this particular life path, but no. I'm sure that says something about me. Not sure what. But I'm sure it's something. I mean...I love it. I love performing. I love having control of people feelings. I mean, that's really what it is. It's form of mind control. And the feeling that comes over me when a show goes well is indescribable. The strangest mix of adrenaline and endorphins. It's like a drug. Really and truly.

All that being said, it is going to be an awesome show. The entire cast as worked so hard and it's really come together nicely. Not to mention how completely awesome the set is.

Well, that's enough for this first entry. I realize it's extremely topical, but I promise future entries will be more interesting.