Monday, May 30, 2011

Took a little trip on a Pirate Ship ...

Continuing along with the Summer 2011 movie viewing, next on deck is Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the latest installment to the blockbuster film franchise starring Johnny Depp. With the previous movie, At World's End, being rather ... bleh, could anyone really expect much from what is easily the most blatant show of Hollywood Farmers milking their prize Cash Cow? No. Would you then be surprised by the outcome? Very!


My friend Wendi says that she did not miss Orlando Bloom nor Keira Knightley at all, and I completely agree. In all honestly, they were the least interesting aspects the previous films, except from when they played off of Depp's Jack Sparrow, so whatever void they left was easily filled by newcomer to the series, Penelope Cruz as Angelica Malon, who may or may not be the daughter of Blackbeard, played by Ian McShane, and the always awesome Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa, stepping into a more central character role.

Spanish sailors discover a trail to what could possibly be the Fountain of Youth, legacy of famed explorer Ponce de Leon, and when the British catch wind, they immediately dispatch Barbossa, now a captain in the British Navy, to procure the spoils in their name.  Also on the hunt is the dread pirate Blackbeard who seeks the Fountain for his own means, with the haplessly uber effective Jack Sparrow dragged along for the ride and thrust into the middle of the conflict.

Pirates 4 found a BIG return to what made the 1st film so good. Tons of swashbuckling, SUPER funny without crossing that line into eye-rolling obnoxiousness, the magical with hints of historical reference, and Jack Sparrow being Jack Sparrow. Everyone was terrific, from the major to the minor, and the 3D was EXCELLENT. The best live-action use of the tech since Avatar.


So the verdict? I Loved it. Great use of story and effects to make you wish you were out at the high seas on some crazy adventure alongside Jack and crew. Loved the return old characters like Barbossa as well as the new like McShane's sinister Blackbeard, who made an outstanding villain. The only small gripe may have been the running time. Pushing 2 and half hours, they could have shaved a bit off and tightened it up, but otherwise? Definitely on par with the 1st two Pirates films, and is going to be tough to beat this summer.

Fail Compilation Video May 2011...

For your pleasure I present May 2011's fail compilation video... Oh how I laughed...

A Short Note To Smallville About Their Finale...

A short note to the creators/ producers/ Tom Welling about the Smallville finale:

Having watched the season 10 finale or should I say "last ever episode" of Smallville recently can I please ask what the f**k was your problem with not satisfying your loyal fans who had waited 10 painful years to see something resembling the photoshopped image below on our screens? 

I've read your absolute drivel about the series always being a "pre-Superman" show and that only hinting at the suit in CGI glimmers and far away blurry shots near the end of the episode was your way of seeing through that intention without compromising your ethic (or in my eyes yet again "copping out" on a ending that could have won you so much praise and yet ended up making most fans spit bile at their TV screens), but you made a grave mistake. You added emotion, oh boy did you pile that on (and that's not a complaint at all), and you had Superman's heart in the last remaining minutes with the shirt ripping and John Williams score in the background that made me personally blubber like a schoolgirl, but you screwed over your fanbase in the worst possible way... 

They, or should I say "we", only wanted Tom Welling in the damned suit, even for 5 seconds, maybe when he flew over the crowd of people before pushing Apokalips away (stupid bloody writing that was anyway) or even a closer shot in space, maybe a phonebooth quick-change and flight instead of the rooftop slow-mo scene? Something that was clear and full bodied... But no.

As a loyal 10 year follower of Smallville myself I can safely say that you fed us a whole lot of crap over the years with bad episodes and shoddy writing (most notably for me the whole Doomsday debacle) and yes you had your moments of TV greatness, but you could have redeemed yourselves completely with 5 pure seconds of Superman-suit screen time and you didn't...  Shame on you.

That is all.





UPDATE: It was pointed out to me that this little rant above wasn't something that I usually do on here and that it contradicted my last post about the Smallville finale... 

My answer to that is this: "BADLY CONTROLLED DIABETIC BLOGGER + LOTS OF SUGAR = ANGRY, MINDLESS GIT WHO SAYS WHAT'S REALLY ON HIS MIND AT THE TIME".
Feel lucky you don't meet me in person when I'm high on sugar, it's not a pretty site! :P

Cool Pics From The Web...

Your weekly dose of cool pics from the web here for you today.

Enjoy!













































Hot Toys' Christopher Reeve Superman Figure = OMG...

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am obsessed with Superman (as if the blog name didn't give that away already) but specifically Christopher Reeve's Superman who will always embody the character in my eyes.

I have a whole bunch of Superman statues and collector dolls in Christopher Reeve's image and I was once very tempted by Toynami's £3000 cinemaquette, but now I think I've found my ultimate collectable. The Hot Toys 12" figure which is soooooo frickin awesome I might cry when I finally hold it!

Red Sun Comics & Collectables will be stocking this figure when it's released later in 2011 but there will be limited quantities so get in there quick!