Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014) - Movie Review

Official Score = 4 Devils

So far I have to say that I am pretty impressed with what Marvel has been doing in it's continuous creation of mega-box office smash hits from the comics that helped bring Marvel in to the world of popularity!

Let's take, The Avengers (2012), besides the fact that this movie is the culmination of a lot of the truly fantastic Marvel Super Hero franchises that have come out in the new millennium, (including: Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor & Captain America,) this movie has helped catapult these stars and their respective independent movie series in to the stratosphere!

And you know what? Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014) is another ultra successful notch in Marvel's prolific collection of mega hits!

The movie poster for: Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014).

Written by: Nicole Perlman (Thor), James Gunn (Dawn Of The Dead) & Directed by: James Gunn. Starring: Chris Pratt (Jurassic World), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek), Dave Bautista (Riddick), Vin Diesel (The Last Witch Hunter), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Michael Rooker (Slither), Karen Gillan (Doctor Who), Glenn Close (Mars Attacks!).

"Well he don't know talkin' good like me and you, so his vocabulistics is limited to "I" and "am" and "Groot," exclusively in that order."

- Rocket Raccoon (A quote from: Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014))

Now this awesome tale, tells the story of how an intergalactic thief, (and the only human traveling in outer space), Peter Quill (Chris Pratt steals a rare precious orb for a privateer who intends to sell it... The only thing is that, 'Ronan: The Accuser' (Lee Pace), who also happens to be working for a secret benefactor, (who has a dark desire to acquire it,) also is trying to get it as well!

During this time, Peter ends up being imprisoned with, 'Rocket Raccoon' (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), (Both of whom had helped get Peter arrested on Nova Prime,) Gamora (Zoe Saldana) & Drax: The Destroyer (Dave Bautista)...  Initially they escape with the intention of selling the orb.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy... Their first mission... Escape from prison!

But when they find out what the orb is, and with the impending danger to the Nova Empire, they make themselves 'The Guardians Of The Galaxy', and decide to deliver the orb to the heart of the Nova Empire, and stop Ronan: The Accuser before he can deliver it to his master!

Now I will be honest and say that when I first heard of this movie I had not held out much hope for it... Don't get me wrong, I knew it would be good, I just didn't know how good! I mean everything about this movie was so well done, that I can totally see why this became one of the highest grossing movies of 2014!

Please Bring Battletoads To The Big Screen

These Toads ruled on the small screen and would on the.big.screen as well!

You know there has been a lot of video games over the years that have been made in to some pretty fun movies... And well, there have also been some pretty lousy movies that have been made from video games as well, but with this series of blogs talking about certain Video Games, or Cartoons or what have you, that should finally be turned in to a movie, I am hopping to bring awareness to filmmakers eventually about the pluses of finally making these movies!

And for my latest one, I wanted to talk about, 'Battletoads'... A classic series that should have been brought to the big screen!

Now for  those of you that don't know what Battletoads are, they started off initially as a cartoon about a group of kick-ass Toads that can also fight crime... as well turn back in to their alter ego (three School aged kids!)

By day, a bunch of children, by night crime fighting Toads!

Now since then, this cartoon has been turned in to at least a couple of freaking awesome video games, as well as other forms of media!

As for the reason that I think you the filmmaker should finally make this movie, is because this series enjoyed a lot of popularity when it first came out, it almost certainly would again... And for the studios... Well let's be honest, the more popular the movie is, the more money you are going to make!

So in the end I must ask, 'Please Bring Battletoads To The Big Screen'!

But don't take it from me, check out these  videos that represent a small piece of the Battletoads package!

Two Captain America's Made For The Big Screen But Not In America!

That's right folks, so far, from what I can tell, in the late 6os and early 70s Turkey decided to make a couple of movies that were based on the American super hero, and the need for him to come to turkey to help!

The first one being, Three Giant Men (1973):

An insane Spider-Man and Captain America in Turkey... Can it get better?

This movie which starred Aytekin Akkaya (Emir Sultan) told the story of how Captain America is called to Turkey with a Mexican wrestler by the name of, 'Santo' (Yavuz Selekman) to stop a crime wave that is beginning to overrun the city of, 'Istanbul'!

For more information, please check out this trailer for: Three Giant Men (1973):

The other one that I found that I thought you guys would be interested in is another Turkish movie called, Major Tayfun (1968).

Major Tayfun... One of two classic, 'Turkish' Captain America movies.

Not much seems to be known about this movie, so much so that it appears that this movie doesn't actually have a trailer for it...

Now of course there a ton of Captain America movies/tv shows and the like that have come from the United States over the decades, but I thought that you guys might find it interesting to discover that the ultimate American soldier has also made appearances in other countries as well!

Dark Shadows (2012) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

One of the cool things that I have learned in Hollywood is that some of my favorite movies are movies that were made by great duos that have worked together before and since on some great movies!

A few examples of this:

A: Ben Stiller (Night At The Museum), and Owen Wilson (Meet The Parents), who did such classics as the, 'Night At The Museum' series, and the, 'Meet the Parents' series, and now it looks like they may be working on the sequel to the classic movie, Zoolander (2001) together!

B: John Carpenter (Halloween) and Jamie Lee Curtis (Terror Train)... Now I am only mentioning these two alone (the fact is, is there are more then a few people that have worked on many of Carpenter's best films), but I am mentioning just these two, because they started my favorite franchise (Halloween) a legendary franchise that has continued on in a remake series going all the way to the present!

The next pairing that I wanted to mention here is that of Johnny Depp (A Nightmare On Elm Street) and Tim Burton (Beetlejuice). Now these guys have done more then a few movies together, but the one that I wanted to talk about here is, Dark Shadows (2012)!

[caption id="attachment_2686" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Johnny Depp as, 'Barnabas Collins' in, 'Dark Shadows' (2012)![/caption]

Written by: Seth Grahame-Greene (The Hard Times Of RJ Berger), John August (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle) & Directed by: Tim Burton. Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer (Batman Returns), Eva Green (Casino Royale), Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club), Jackie Earle Haley (A Nightmare On Elm Street), Jonny Lee Miller (Hackers), Bella Heathcote (In time), Chloe Moretz (Hugo) & Gulliver McGrath (Lincoln).

This movie is a fun tale of Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) who in the 18th century ends up sleeping with a servant (who turns out to be a witch) by the name of, 'Angelique' (Green).

Now at this time in the world, Barnabas and his family are filthy rich (having founded the small fishing village of, 'Collinsport' and having a huge and immensely successful fishing company!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="470"] Barnabas and his one night stand centuries later![/caption]

Well after Barnabas sleeps with Angelique, she ends up falling in love with Barnabas... The only problem is that Barnabas as it has it, doesn't love her!

So Angelique ends up being so angry that she casts a spell that kills Barnabas's family! When he still doesn't seem to seek her company, and ends up falling in love with a woman by the name of, 'Josette' (Heathcotte), Angelique decides to get the ultimate revenge!

You see, first she casts a spell to make Josette commit suicide and then turns the grief stricken Barnabas in to a vampire and has him buried in a a coffin so that he could be alone with his grief forever!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="512"] Barnabas in his tomb![/caption]

Centuries later the Collins family name has been turned to shit, the family itself is a joke, with Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Pfeiffer) who is trying to keep her daughter, 'Carolyn' (Moretz) and her looser brother, 'Roger' and his grief stricken son, 'David' together as they destroy the last of the Collins dynasty together!

But their savior is about to role in to the world, when while building a new road, a work crew comes across Barnabas's coffin and accidentally releaswa him!

Barnabas sets back home with the intention of bringing the family name back to prominence again... The only problem is that there is some one from Barnabas's past that still has a bone or two to pick with him!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Barnabas with the remnants of his once proud and family, and the few people they could afford to employee...[/caption]

The truth is, is that this movie is hilarious, I mean you don't expect Johnny Depp to play such a convincing Vampire (I think he got at least some of his influence from Max Schreck, who played, 'Count Orlok' in Nosferatu (1922) but when you see Johnny Depp talking with Christopher Lee (One of the most well recognized Dracula's of all time), you can't help but be impressed!

And as for the Barnabas's family in the future, the way they play the stuck up slowing bankrupting themselves type, you can't help but be overjoyed!

The only part that I really didn't like is the ridiculous over the top love interest that Angelique had for Barnabas (I mean I have seen obsession movies, but this went a little to far!)

Either way, this movie is a lot of fun, and is good for more then a few chuckles, and if you haven't checked it out yet but intend to, then you might find you like it as well!

http://youtu.be/wpWvkFlyl4M

Bring Blaster Master To The Big Screen

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="549"] Blaster Master was originally a video game, but would make for a great movie![/caption]

One of the biggest areas that Hollywood seems to have adequately neglected and replaceed with literally dozens upon dozens of remakes... are the movies that are based on video games... Don't get me wrong when I say that there truly are some impressive movies based on video games... There are some duds as well... But there are some truly fun ones that still need to be made!

So I am hopping that with this series, to bring awareness to Hollywood about the fact that it is not time yet for Hollywood to remake everything it has ever made... That time will come, but until then there are other avenues to exploit... And one of them being, 'movies based on video games!'

Another great example that I personally feel could be adapted to serve as both a great movie as well the classic NES video game that it already is, is the classic video game, 'Blaster Master' (1988).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="468"] Blaster Master... A great game, could be a great movie![/caption]

Now I will admit to the fact that unless you were born before about, '2000', then most people will have almost certain have forgotten about this killer game (the truth is, I hate to say it, but this game did not get a whole hell of a lot of recognition when it first came out either...)

Never the less, this video game would make an amazing movies... The reasons are as follow:

1. I think there are periods in general where, in Hollywood there is just not the right group of talent available to make a truly amazing Science Fiction movie (This may be the reason why there was literally, 'YEARS' between each of the early Alien movies...) But I think with the success of, Prometheus (2012), that, the time to strike for a Science Fiction movie, with a great cast, is now.

2. I think to really do this movie right, that up until recently the technology to make the special effects to the caliber necessary for such a great movie was not really available until recently.

3. And since the story is fairly well established in the video game, even with the usual, 'Hollywood' changes, it would be almost impossible to destroy the story for this story.

But don't take it from me, check out this clip from the video game, and lets get started with pre-production!

http://youtu.be/Wakyt-KtoBU

Bring Contra To The Big Screen!

You know, I hate to say it, but there honestly is a lot of garbage out there on the big screen these days... It has gotten better and better as the turn over from the 90s in to the 2000s has disappeared in to the turn over between the 2000s - 2010s, but there is still a lot of garbage out there!

With that said though, there is one genre that still not only seems to be doing really well, but seems to be getting better and better over time... That is the Action genre!

And you know what? With the success of the action genre still going very strong after so long, I ask myself this age old question... One that I have been asking since the late 80s... Why don't they make a big screen adaption of the classic NES game, 'Contra'? I mean they are still pumping out movies based on all sorts and kind of games... Some of them are good and some of them are crap... So why not bring back, 'Contra'?

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="519"] A scene fighting one of the bosses in the classic Nintendo video game, 'Contra'![/caption]

Now at this point you might be wondering about the game... Well for that, 'Click Here.'

But as for the reason why this would be just a completely amazing idea... Well simply put, for the studios, this movie would definitely cash in on it's success... I mean if, The Expendables 2 (2012) can do that good... Well hell, with the game being as good as it is, I am sure if you bring in the right cast and crew to bring this game to life then it will be a sure fire smash hit classic!

What I mean by the right cast and crew... Don't bring in some writer who has never heard of the game and won't appreciate the nuances of what makes the game great and even what would make this game in to a great movie... And don't just dump some unknown director who will try to turn it in to a newer version of, 'The Expendables', and drop, 'Channing Tatum' and some other dude that would be completely wrong for the parts in to the movie... No, if you get the right writers and director for this movie, as well as cast it with people who could really fit the mold, I think you will end up with a truly amazing movie that is not only capitalizing on the elements that truly do make modern action movies like, 'The Expendables' so great, but also is a fond reminder of what made movies like, Commando (1985) such a truly awesome good time!

And if you haven't played the game yet, then why not pick up a copy of it, dust off the old Nintendo, and give it a try... I am sure you will see what I mean!

http://youtu.be/uzQKF9LUQ90