Mortal Kombat REBIRTH

Over the past week Mortal Kombat fanboys (such as myself) were treated to not only the news that their franchise would make it's way back to home consoles, but that Warner Bros. and the director of the mixed recieved FAME (2009) has released a "pitch" video for a REINVENTION or a REBOOT of the Mortal Kombat film series titled "MORTAL KOMBAT REBIRTH"

What are the reactions to this video? The fanboys have been buzzing and they all seem to love it. It's a divisive reaction. Film critics are hating the hell out of this short, fanboys love it to all hell.

As for myself? Being both a fanboy and a critic?

See for yourself the short first.



Ok now my reaction in short...I like it a lot actually. Keep in mind, I know that video game films have a tendency to suck majorly. Unlike most of the fanboys out there, I don't see this film as a truly oscar worthy picture or something that needs to be taken seriously. The film borrows and steals from so many sources. The cinematography yells "DAVID FINCHER'S SE7EN". Also, the way everything is explained or given a realistic gritty tone, it almost seems like as if Christopher Nolan came in and said "Mortal Kombat? Make it all make sense." The performances are hammy as all hell. The dialogue and the script is cliche' upon cliche' trying to blend a NYC grit to the story. There's a bit of an uncertainy of tone in the short. I Know all of the flaws. Yet, I still enjoyed it. I saw this short and thought, if they ever made this into a feature length film, I think I would have a lot of fun with it.

3 Main Reasons why I dug the short.

1. It could be an escapist film.
The Filmmakers seem to be in on the fact that Mortal Kombat is just a ripoff of everything that worked before. Historically, Mortal Kombat is a american ripoff of Street Fighter. Mortal Kombat took all the best elements from the Street Fighter game and americanized it. This short takes all the best elements from every other film. It takes the realistic angle to these completely unrealistic characters (A la Chris Nolan and his Batman Series) as the short tries to come up with a new angle to re-introduce these characters that are fragments of the 90's. The short looks like it's taking MK fans on a new ride and they are trying to have fun, but tell the stories of these characters in a new way. The original Mortal Kombat film from 1995 is arguably the best video game adaptation we have ever gotten, but that story has been told, so why not retell this film in a completely different direction and make it hammy and a bit self aware. Micheal Jai White as Jax is not delivering a serious performance whatsoever, but I can imagine him as Jax, no problem. It seems like everyone involved is having fun and trying to deliver something worthy of the fanbase, but take certain liberties. It could be a hammy and fun crowd-pleaser.

2. It is Mortal Kombat essentially.
While they have changed a lot of the mythos that Mortal Kombat has, it keeps the spirit essentially. Reptile is still essentially reptile and Scropion and Sub-Zero's rivalry will finally be told. While these are just small things, they could lend themselves to fun retelling of this story. They take all of these ideas that came up in the video game and give them a gritty realistic tone, but keeps the spirit. I can dig that.

3. It's going to be R-Rated.
If there is one thing the original film didn't get right was the fact that MORTAL KOMBAT is about cutting people to pieces and ridiculing your friend in the worst way after he loses. The short seems to get it right in the sense that people are actually going to die. This ups the stakes a lot more a bit in terms of when these guys fight, there is actually something at sake as opposed to just laying on the floor and punching someone in the chest and saying Fatality. While the original film was trying to be fun and appeal to a broad audience, it was Mortal Kombat in story, but it wasn't the film we fanboys wanted at the start.

Overall, I know the fanboys are maybe going to get the gritty MORTAL KOMBAT REBIRTH movie, but they are going to be disapointed by it. This is not by any stretch to me, looking like this is going to be a serious movie. This looks like something I could pay ten dollars on a friday night and have a blast with. It will be bad, but I may only pay to see it once. It's going to be a glorious train-wreck...while the statement is redeemed by the word "Glorious"

See you later guys

BTW: Check out the new MORTAL KOMBAT game due out in spring of 2011!

Kick-Ass REVIEW!!!!

Ok Let me state the following before going on with this review...

THIS MOVIE FUCKING KICKED ASS!!!!

Whew!...

Ok!

Now...

Where do I start on how awesome this movie was?!


Ok, well the basic premise of the story revolves around everyday high schooler/comic book nerd/ superhero wannabe: Dave as he goes out and takes the alter-ego named "Kick-Ass". Although his superhero career starts off with some messy results at first, he then becomes a youtube sensation. The film then goes on to introduce us to the idea of superheroes who actually in our real-world, but in a way that truly hasn't been done before. The difference between this and something like Watchmen is the fact that Dave has nothing going for him both in and out of the costume and he is almost sad and pathetic in his attempt to become a superhero. Despite all of these feelings towards this character, we still can't help but cheer him during the low points and high points in his outtings because to quote Dave...

"at some point in all of our lives, We all wanted to be a superhero."

The Positives of the film! The script! The script is just very tight and pretty much is Dave's story. The film nails the aspect of being that invisible kid at high school, who isn't the jock, the super brains, or the popular kid; but is the kid that is just there. The script of the film also doesn't take complete left-field turns...well any that are out of the realm of what this film sets up. It's a comic book film? Yes, but its one that knows what it wants to be. it wants to be a comic book brought to our world and it's going to take the audience on a wild ride. The story was just so relatible for the first act that you buy this kid's story and his reasons for wanting this extra-ordinary lifestyle. Hook, line, and sinker; this story got me right from the get-go!


The acting. Aaron Johnson is pitch-perfect as Dave AKA Kick-Ass. He doesn't have anything going for him as a high schooler or Kick-Ass apart from a gimmick (not to reveal spoilers here) that does give him a bit of a fighting chance. Johnson just nails that geek comic nerd that just wants to be like the heroes he's read all of his life and you can't help but just cheer him on though the film. He is an immediately likable, but somewhat irrational character. He is the guy us virgin comic nerds grew up as who comes to learn what it means to be a superhero and what ramifications that has on the world around us. Johnson just did a fantastic job selling the 17 year old kid.


Later in the film we are introduced to superheroes Hit-Girl; the foul mouthed 9 year old, who automatically will generate applause and a huge fan-base! Chloe Moretz does an awesome job at portraying this killer of a 9 year old, who also happens to be a super-badass! There are so many awesomely hilarious and badass scenes with Hit-Girl that could be hard to narrow down and pick as a favorite. Hit-Girl is one badass character who is sure to become the talk of this film!

Big Daddy; the infamous Nicholas Cage doing his best Adam West Batman impersonation...Enough said!!!!

and Red Mist; the rich and pot smoking superhero. Christopher Mintz-Plasse does a suitible job as Red Mist. Without giving away spoilers, he does what he needs to when the time calls for him to. Good job though! Lastly, Mark Strong was great as the main villain of the film as a mobster hunting down the superheroes. His motivation is clear and it is suitable for the film. I dug it!

The one person that needs to get credit for this film is director: Matthew Vaughn. He delivered a film with some great direction that tonally fits the film. He manages to balance a level of seriousness, camp, and bloody violence in a way that just makes the film a ton of fun! The film doesn't take itself too seriously, but it does know the audience wants to see a comic book working in the real world. Matthew Vaughn also does a great job with the action sequences of the film and he delivers some badass crowd pleasers.

I can't think of any negatives to the film. It does deviate from the comic book quite substantially in the third act, but it's a welcomed change. The book and the movie are two different entities that work in their respective forms. The film decides to dump one emotional beat that is present in the book in the third act. The film works and it's pretty awesome! I reccomend reading the book after watching the movie. Both complement each other and maintain the spirit of Dave's story. Apart from this deviation, I can't think of a flaw to the film.


The film has so much heart to it and it doesn't talk down to the comic geeks. It is a perfect example of a film that celebrates geekdom! It is bloody violent and it is just a great thrill ride! Lots of laughs to be had and a lot of eye candy to offer in a "Kick-Ass" package!! This story borrows a lot of notes from previous realistic superhero takes and just runs with them in a new and exciting way! Needless to say: I loved the film!! Here's to Mark Millar, John Romita, Jr, Matthew Vaughn, and the rest of the crew for telling a story about "us" for "us!"

GRADE: A
10/10

Hot Tub Time Machine REVIEW!!

This is not supposed to be a smart little movie, but it has no right to be as good as it was with a shitty concept like a Hot Tub Time Machine. I was pleasantly surprised by how funny the flick was. It takes some of the age old questions of what we would do if we was to have access to a time travel device and what would happen if we had to deal with no changing the time lines. By no means will this change the time travel genre, but it was a funny movie. The filmmakers seem to know that this plot is ludicrous and instead of trying to bring reality to the situation, they just roll with it and they decide to give the audience just a good time. For the most part, it worked.

The acting is funny and the beats all work. The one character that always gets a laugh has to go to Crispin Glover. All of his scenes are laugh inducing and his gags always leave you both on the edge of your seat and ready to burst with laughter! (You'll know what I'm talkin about when you see it) But his role automatically gets the most laughs! All of the cast is funny in this. John Cusack's role is particularly funny in part because of the fact that we get to see him young once again and this is a nostalgic trip to see him young once again and his role is funny. The only one who fell a bit flat and not that funny and underdeveloped was Chevy Chase. Chevy's character was funny at times, but it kinda seemed like he was underused. It's a minor flaw but its still cool to see Chevy doing a good funny movie again. The story works, but don't put it against any of the time travel masterpieces. It does what it needs to and you need to suspend your disbelief because it is trying to be funny.

Overall, it was a great time at the movies. I would say definitely see this with an audience as the bigger the crowd the more fun it's going to be! Its a flawed movie, but man was it a funny one!

Overall, I'd say a definite MATINEE!

Oscar Predictions! (UPDATED)

Hey guys! It's been a while since I had done a post so I thought since it's round about nearly Oscar time, I Thought I'd give ya guys my predictions for What will Win what.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: WAS CORRECT!

What I want to win: UP
What I think will win: UP
UP has become one of Pixar's more accessible academy films and this will easyly sweep this award. As much as I enjoyed Mr. Fox, there are some major flaws to be had with that film. Princess and the Frog is just too safe of a film to earn a Best animated film Oscar.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY- WAS CORRECT!

What I want to Win- UP

What I think will win- THE HURT LOCKER

The Up screenplay provides both a fun ride, a great character arc, and a emotionally gripping closure that surpasses anything else that is nominated. As much as I thought the HURT LOCKER was a greatly directed film, everyone seems to be talking about how this script meshes both Action and story and character development in a great fashion. I am in the minority that doesn't see this come across whatsoever in the final film. All I see is an unlikable protagonist that I am waiting for to get blown up. Bigalow made this script more cinematic than what was written on the page. Tarrinatino had his day and his Basterds screenplay although great is a bit flawed in some areas. I think UP should take the cake for originality. I mean A guy flies his house with balloons and then he meets up with talking dogs and a large bird! ha ha ha ha!

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY- WAS WRONG!

What I want to win: UP IN THE AIR
What I Think will Win: UP IN THE AIR
This is a classic case of what happens when Filmmakers adapt books, Jason Reitman took the essence of the original Novel, and added things that weren't there in the book and made a more emotional pungent film that stayed true to the book's theme and expanded it. It also happens to be a great screenplay despite the fact it was adapted.

What ended up winning: Precious


I was shocked when this won best adapted screenplay. The screenplay basically takes a massive shit on it's main character every chance it got to the point where I just couldn't take the film seriously anymore. I didn't like any of it's characters and felt it gloried and reveled in it's stereotypes. A great disappointment in my eyes. Bad move academy!

BEST DIRECTOR- CORRECT!!!

Who I want to win- Kathryn Bigalow
Who I think will win- Kathryn Bigalow

Bigalow is an underrated director that I think is talented enough to warrant a best director award. She took some of the elements of the script and made tension filled moments as the audience is expecting the worse in the bomb defusal scenes. Fantastically directed sequences.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR- FOREGONE CONCLUSION! CORRECT!

Who I want to win: Christopher Waltz
Who I think will win: Christopher Waltz
Why? Because Col. Hans Landa is a fucking great performance that I can't imagine anyone else being able to pull of and he knocks it out of the ballpark! Chirstopher Waltz mops the floor with the other nominees. HE'S GOING TO GET IT!!!

Best Supporting Actress- CORRECT!!!

Who I want to win: Vera Farminga

Who I think will win: Mo'Nique
I think Vera Farminga has never been more engaging on screen and she is the female foil to George Clooney's Ryan in UP IN THE AIR. She was fantastic. But As we all know, Mo'Nique is a shoe-in for this role, because nobody expected her to be as talented as she was in PRECIOUS. I think Mo'Nique has proved her acting talent, but is it the best performance? I don't think so. I like both actresses and I'll be content with either winning, but I'm leaning towards Vera Farminga.

Best Actress- CORRECT!!!

Who I want to win: Indifferent...but if I had to choose one then Sandra Bolluck
Who I think will win: Sandra Bolluck
A weak year for strong female roles I'd say. I mean most of the nominees are dominated females for the most part and thats a shame we don't have more solid roles for females this year. And Sandra Bolluck is for the most part the one that is going to get this. The movie was good, but the performance is a bit generically good. It does what it needs to, but it's nothing nobody hasn't seen before.

Best Actor- CORRECT!!!

Who I want to win: George Clooney

Who I think will win: Jeff Bridges
Talk about a comeback year! Now a Clooney fan after UP IN THE AIR, because at one point I was annoyed by him, but he proved himself to be a fantastic actor with a chops. Bridges is also the same case. It could go either or. I dug both performances but I connected more to Clooney's Ryan character. Both actors are fantastic!


Those are my predictions for the more tougher catagories, cuz all of the other nominations are going to be pretty Obvious as to who is going to take it home and I agree with most of them. The only problem is that this has been a weak year for the acting category for females. I think perhaps the biggest snub at the oscars this year was the exclusion of Ducan Jones' MOON and ignoring SAM ROCKWELL's fantastic performance!

Sam was utterly fantastic in the film and it's a shame he didn't get nominated at he very least for Best Actor. Think I'm wrong? check out this scene.

Anyways till next time guys! I'll have some reviews up again finally! Sorry for the non-updates, but I will get you some reviews again!

SEE YA FOLKS!!!

(3-09-2010)
Well I was right on all counts except one. Not bad. I think this years Oscars were flawed, but they did what they needed to do.

and Also I purposefully stayed away from the BEST PICTURE catagory because I didn't agree with the whole AVATAR vs. HURT LOCKER Deal. I thought AVATAR was a better film, but HURT LOCKER was a technically good film too but the story and script just didn't do it for me. I would have been on team Avatar, but I thought UP or UP IN THE AIR should have won best picture. Anyways!

TILL NEXT YEAR FOLKS!!!

Review coming later this week again!!!

The Book of Eli REVIEW!

A solid Post-apocalyptic movie! It's a fun thrill ride! This film is a harken back to the old classic post-apocalyptic films of the 70's, while also being a film that is a traditional Samurai film. Denzel plays a badass like usually! While of course the religious themes are present in the film, it doesn't beat you over the head with them. I dug the film as an alternative apocalyptic films of today. While it does take place in that world, the world doesn't overwelm the story and the story is actually solid. The 3rd act of the film has a great twist, but it doesn't drag the film at all. In fact it almost makes the film and Denzel that much more awesome. In terms of the acting Denzel is the best. Gary Oldman is as hammy in the role as he is called to be, but he's a fun villain to watch, Mila Kunis was ok, but she doesn't drag the film down. Overall, a surprisingly good film and a good time. I'd say it's a solid FULL-PRICE!

The Lovely Bones REVIEW!

While Visually: it's interesting, but it's ultimately a 2 hour screensaver. I couldn't emotionally connect to each character and I wasn't really feeling the story. Having read the novel, it gets rid of some small key aspects to focus on the more lamer ones sadly. But overall, I thought the performances were good. Stanley Tucci was fantastic as perfectly cast as Mr. Harvey. His performance is so layered and textured and it's unsettling to watch at times. It does it's job,but I can't help but feel let down by Peter Jackson. I really wanted to love this film, but it's a RENTAL. Surprisingly for the first time Peter Jackson isn't slavish to the original book as he was to LOTR, but there will be an inevitable 3+ hr cut of this film on dvd at some point.

The Hurt Locker REVIEW!

Viseral and fantastically made. Everything about the film is well made and provides some of the most tense and suspenseful scenes to come out all year. Kathryn Bigelow proves that she is the best female action/genre director around. While I do like what the film aciheved in a scene building and suspense level, the story didn't do it for me. The story and the character development was almost not there. I hated the protagonist and what his goals were, I thought everybody else was underdeveloped, and I thought that the film was trying hard at times to be heavy-handed with all of these sequences in which you see what these soliders do to each other and some of the things they contemplate doing to each other on and off the field. You get the sense of what these characters are like on the field, but not on a more personal level. I was taken by the chaos that the world of disarming bombs was and I wanted to have something there to hold it all together. I understand that it was the director's intention to not go into the solider's lives, but it alienated me in the sense that I wasn't cheering for really anybody in the whole film. The story was just lacking as was the conclusion to the film. This felt very much like a video game at points with some great set-pieces and tense action scenes, but no real narractive or character to hold it all together. I would have to give this a RENTAL.