iconogeek » Brett

Touch Not, Lest Ye Be Touched

Brett — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:34:27 +0000

Ok guys, since I am apparently the biggest dick on this site, I felt the need to review Tales of the Black Freighter before the other softees did. I don’t know if it was evident from the most recent podcast, but I was not enamored with Watchmen. It really had nothing to do with what they left out, and what they changed or any of that, it was more a fact that the movie just can’t be made with the source material provided. Now I’m not about to say I hated the movie completely because I liked nay loved certain parts. The way they Snyder altered the ending for example…better than the book. Rorschach was awesome and Jackie Earl Haley was the highlight of the whole move. In fact I agree with one of the commentors that an all-Rorschach movie would have been sick. Nonetheless, I left the theater feeling underwhelmed and under-entertained, but in reality I don’t think it could have been better, unless they made a miniseries…and at that, who knows. Now, onto the supplemental material that was released this week. As a whole, it was much better than the theatrical release. The Black Freighter story is very gritty and dark, it is certainly not for the faint at heart. Snyder and Co. left no stone unturned here and gave me exactly what I wanted…a faithful replication of the story within a story. Gerard Butler’s voice over was ominous and angered. As Chuck and I left the movie we both were wanting more of the MinuteMen back story…well you will get that here with the Under The Hood interview by the original Night Owl. It is done in such a way that it seems like you are watching a 60 Minutes-like show from the 1960s with Seiko commercials included. As such, a lot of Sally Jupiter’s story shone through here as well as the original masked vigilante Hooded Justice. When Watchmen come out on BluRay, I will rewatch both in tandem and I feel that this may change my opinion for Watchmen, even possibly raising it’s iScore for me…nah.

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Nothin’ Like A Good Ol’ A$$ Whoopin’

Brett — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:05:31 +0000

I know I haven’t posted much in quite a while. Call it what you will, but I just saw The Wrestler and was inclined to give you my highly critical opinion.

For starters, I loved it. From the opening credits with the panning wrestling Promo’s from the 80′s and even the Ram-green font, to the final image of Mickey Rourke (more on him in a moment) giving his fans what they wanted, I was hooked. Darren Arronofsky’s use of a documentary-style single camera shooting made this movie feel very authentic.

As an avid wrestling fan in my younger days, which I’ve since let fall by the wayside, Mickey Rourke sold me 100% on his performance from his first elbow drop, to the final RamJam. Not only did he deserve the Golden Globe for Best Male Actor, as well as his forth coming Oscar win…this was one of my top 10 performances in a while. I don’t know whether it was the 80′s vibe he exuded, the low IQ he was portraying as a lovable fuckup with many apparent prior transgressions, or just his overall “badassness” but Mickey Rourke has some chops. I can’t say I’m well versed in his Filmography (besides SinCity of course) but I’ll surely be adding some of his flicks to my Netflix queue.

Marisa Tomei was phenomenal as the odd relationship between the two characters unfolds throughout the films 115 min run time.

That said, even if you weren’t a fan of the Hulk Hogan’s and Iron Sheik’s of the 80′s, you will dig this movie based on the incredible character development and Rourke’s painful attempts to reconnect with his daughter (a very solid Evan Rachel Wood). It seems as though this year’s Oscar season is full of very strong candidates…while I haven’t seen a majority of the noms yet, I can’t imagine many of them containing a better lead performance than this one. Check it out.

*Note – Bruce Springsteen’s song written and titled for this movie did not go unnoticed…I loved it

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Why…So…Serious?!

Brett — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:44:11 +0000

This might be the most difficult review/commentary I’ve had to write in my time as an iconogeek poster. The Dark Knight was cast into movie history on early Friday morning, amid hype bigger then Jack Nicholson’s shit-eating grin way back in 1989. I’ll admit that I had enormous expectations for this flick for several reasons, including the immense Batman Begins, my love for all things Batman (minus a little misstep known dearly as “the nipple suit”), Christian Bale, and oh by the way, Heath Ledger tragically and unexpectedly passed away right after his filming and post-production. Needless to say there was a minute amount of mystique and anticipation surrounding TDK.

Now that the weekend is over, Bale and Co. have broken the records for Midnight Opening Gross (over Revenge of the Sith), Opening Day and Weekend Gross (over Spider-Man 3). So the fans liked it….which, is a good thing, I think.

As far as what I thought about the movie is difficult to describe. In recent weeks I suppose I’ve been labeled as a rather stringent critic, which I have no problem with. Maybe you’ll hear more of my side on the next podcast. But to discuss how I would score The Dark Knight feels near impossible. Entertainment Weekly touted the flick by saying “This is what you call raising the bar.” In a way I both agree and disagree with that statement. The bar for comic book movies was certainly raised in a sense, but I feel more inclined to describe the bar as being broken down into little pieces and upgraded to a newer, shinier, nipple-less bar.

The Dark Knight is less a comic book movie and more an investigation into the human condition and the emotions shrouded behind a bad-ass bat suit, and psychotically applied white make-up. This summer has now seen three phenomenal comic book-based films in which the first 2 started the trend and the 3rd and most spectacular broke the mold. It seems that The Dark Knight has ushered in the era of Oscar-buzz worthy chatter amongst previously lighter fare.

It took me 2 days to finally post because the movie had so many story arcs that it took that long for me to process. That’s not to say that there were too many plot lines, its just an observation that no comic book movie has ever bitten off more than its ADHD riddled fanboys can chew at once (hence all the sequels). Where Batman Begins revitalized a tired franchise, The Dark Knight revitalized a tiring genre.

It’s an understatement to say Heath Ledger was superb as the Joker. Once the final credits rolled, and the Joker had already exited stage left, it was apparent that all the other players including a solid Bale, Aaron Eckhardt, Maggie Gyllenhall, and Gary Oldman among others, were simply a big name supporting cast to true work of acting genius. Ledger clearly had a vision in mind of what the Joker is and why he is that way. If for nothing else, this movie soared because of what Ledger added to it. Jack Nicholson…stick to Boston-based mob movies…because you just got out played.

The two scenes that stood out most were when Ledger and Bale are face to face in rather quiet and alone situations. I started to forget that the Joker was wearing ridiculous face paint and began to see him as a deranged criminal, with an ominous past, which I couldn’t even imagine, that would set him off the straight and narrow so far. He became a psychotic murderer the likes of which hasn’t been seen on the big screen since the aforementioned Nicholson in the Shining.

I’m going to use the old >I

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But where did the lighter fluid come from?

Brett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:46:29 +0000

Finally, Hollywood has thrown us weary fans a frickin’ bone and apparently decided to green light a big screen version of Fox’s short-lived phenomenon that was Arrested Development. IMDb.com has it set to release in 2009, and with the writer’s strike over, I think this is a possibility.If this flick turns out to be half as good as season 2 of the show, I’ll be satisfied. For a show that was so short lived, I have supreme confidence in presenting a list of past/present comedies that AD is better than.1. Friends 2. Will & Grace 3. Everybody Loves Raymond 4. How I Met Your Mother 5. Family Guy .That’s right, I said Friends, watch the show and you’ll be looking forward to the movie as much as I am.

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JB is the KFP

Brett — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:33:53 +0000

I have to say I’m more of a Pixar guy rather then Dreamworks, blame my inherent bias toward all Steve Jobs’ endeavors. However, Dreamworks’ recent addition to the animated motion picture universe was phenomenal. I was a little skeptical at first because Jack Black has been in some clunkers of late, but this flick was awesome.

I really began to care about Po, the lazy, sweet toothed DragonMaster-elect, and Dustin Hoffman was superb as Master Shifu. With voice-over appearances from Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, and a rather disappointing Angelina Jolie, what’s not to love. By the end of the movie, I was elated at Po’s successes.

Note: Don’t think I didn’t notice the Kill Bill reference with the 5 point palm exploding heart technique…(well it was a kid’s movie so maybe they’re hearts didn’t “explode” persay.)

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That’s not what MINE looks like?!?!?!

Brett — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:41:48 +0000

I recently saw the latest entry into ApaTOWN(copyright) and went into it with relatively high expectations. I’ve enjoyed Jason Segal in all his incarnations including Freaks & Geeks, How I Met Your Mother, and even Knocked Up. Needless to say, I expected to be wowed by some wild and crazy take on the standard rom-com. I was sorely disappointed. There were 2 or 3 specific points in the movie where I was waiting for them to turn a corner, but director Nicholas Stoller sent me down the same old, cheesy path.

The movie wasn’t completely bogus. The afformentioned Segal was stellar and Mila Kunis played a decent love interest. However it did become a bit of a sausage fest (and I don’t mean it was like my Friday and Saturday nights in college). If you haven’t heard, Segal shows his wiener…multiple times. As I am in the last week of medical school, it’s not like I haven’t had my fair share of penises to inspect, but it kept appearing in the movie like a recurring theme in a Shakespearan play.

Anyway, the true low point for me was Kristen Bell. Just because she’s a pretty face doesn’t mean she has chops. Her character felt very constrained and her emotions were nearly non-existent.Despite this low point I’ll probably netflix it in a few months to remember the hilarious opera that Segal’s character composes that I won’t ruin for you.Note* Jason Segal based the break-up scene and the opera on his real life experiences.

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Ultimate Fanboy Rage (UFR)

Brett — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:17:20 +0000

In possibly the most annoying geek news ever, Sir Ian McKellen (who arguably has played two of the coolest roles in all of film) has stated that he hopes to reprise his role as Gandalf in “The Hobbit.”

Being that McKellen played the enigmatous wizard in all three episodes of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, it would only seem fit that he be cast for the prequel. We have all seen what happens when movie studios attempt to recast an iconic role (read as: Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore). New Line had better get off their high horse and give Peter Jackson what he wants, or there are going to be a lot of angry geeks out there.

In all fairness, using Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro to helm this flick is a huge step in the right direction. However, why start something huge if you’re not going to go the distance?

*Note: I’m aware that Michael Gambon was cast as Dumbledore only due to the unfortunate death of Richard Harris…but come on…CGI is so far advanced nowadays. Anyone could be better than Gambon.

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Some have gone and some remain…

Brett — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:10:55 +0000

Neil Aspinall (13 October 1941 – 24 March 2008) has died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. The ex-Apple Corps Ltd. executive stepped down from his post as chief executive of the company and “guardian of the Beatles’ commercial interests,” last year. As a longtime friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison dating back to their school days in Liverpool, Aspinall served at the legendary band’s first road manager. He would drive them to many of their gigs in his Commer van in the early 1960′s. A statement released by the remaining members of the Beatles stated, “all his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him but will always retain the fondest memories of a great man.”

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Steady As She Goes

Brett — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:36:16 +0000

Billboard.com is reporting that the Jack White side-project, The Raconteurs, is releasing its follow-up to 2006′s fantastic Broken Boy Soldiers on March 25. This is apparently way ahead of schedule. The record will be released on ALL formats including digital download, CD and vinyl. I like the fact that bands are following Radiohead’s lead and bypassing the evil corporate record labels as much as possible. These bands only succeed in pleasing their loyal fans by pursuing such endeavors. Let’s face it, people who don’t like The Raconteurs are stupid, but they’ll appreciate music being released on the band’s terms, rather then when some fat “pigvomit” in a cushy corner office who wouldn’t know Jack White from Jack Palance decides he can extract every last dime from the band’s success.Anyway, I highly recommend the 2006 release, and have very high expectations for “Consolers of the Lonely.” Jack White is distinguishing himself as one of the best and most innovative guitarists of this generation. Here’s a link to the Raconteurs official site announcing the early release. Rock on.

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And it burns, burns, burns…

Brett — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:27:04 +0000

If you love your XBox 360 as much as I do, then you are probably no stranger to this wonderful image posted above. Recently, an independent company that provides warranty support estimated that 16% of all XBox 360 consoles contract the “disease” of video game death.

I personally, have encountered this issue twice. I also have witnessed the incident in a roommates machine………..TWICE. Either I am extremely bad luck, or these numbers are grossly underestimated. I have to commend Microsoft for stepping up to the plate and paying for the repairs in full, plus S&H, on both occassions, although it took them about 3 months to cede.

For those of you who still maintain a sense of humor regarding this issue, here is a youtube link to tickle your fancy.

I’ve given Microsoft several chances with this issue, and they’ve corrected the problem. Let’s hope they correct the issue with the 360 and any hardware they create beyond.

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Have you seen this boy?

Brett — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:11:33 +0000

In some additional Star Wars universe news, IMDb.com has a listing for an “Untitled Star Wars TV Series” set to start in 2009. Anthony Daniels is tied to this project, with Daniel Logan (pictured above) rumored to be involved.Boba Fett is arguably the most intriguing character in the entire Lucas Lore. To have his story involved in this can only mean one thing…it has to be cool. The plot line only acknowledges that the series is set between Episode III and IV.

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A Quick Review

Brett — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:30:40 +0000

I recently watched this installment to the Wes Anderson filmography and am providing a link to a full review by a much better writer then I ever will be.

Overall, this was a fantastic film. Anderson recieves a great deal of criticism for his lack of originality regarding plot content. Specifically, every movie involves some sort of broken family unit, but if works, I say roll with it (can I get an AMEN?!). The acting was top-notch, especially from new comer (to an Anderson flick) Adrien Brody. The three lead roles (Brody, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman) played quite harmoniously off each other, as well as with the always fantastic Angelica Houston.

As far as cinematography, this film provides some of Anderson’s typical camera work, but adds a bit of grandeur as the viewer is taken for quite a magestic ride over the gorgeous landscapes of India.

I’ll leave the plot for you to decipher for yourself, but I suggest you watch the short film Hotel Chevalier prior, which includes the stunning Natale Portman. If you bought the DVD it will give you the option to view the short prior to the full film. Interestingly, Anderson dubs this mini saga, The Darjeeling Limited: Part 1.

Imdb.com has a rating of 7.7 for this film. I’d go with the full 8/10 stars. So get your hands on this flick, and you won’t be dissappointed. Unless of course you don’t like cool stuff.

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Put the blaster down, and step AWAY from the TaunTaun.

Brett — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:39:12 +0000

For all you Star Wars aficionados who found the “Troops” videos as funny as I did. Here’s a blast from the past.

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