Brains!

Reviews Galore!

Anvil: The Story of Anvil

Jordan and I, well especially me, have been trying very hard to come up with activities in recent weeks. I'm determined for us to do interesting things. So we took a chance and went to see this little documentary. It was playing at the Laemmle theater on Santa Monica blvd, which often plays independents not found at other places. We were first greeted by the films director. An English dude, who apparently was a roadie for this metal band back when they were actually going places. Then we watched the film. It was heartwarming. I know that's cheesy as hell, but its damn true. If you've seen Spinal Tap, think Spinal Tap but in real life, mixed with the feel of another awesome documentary called The King of Kong. So basically it's hilarious and a lot of times you're thinking, wow do these people really act like this? But it's all true! That is what this bands story is. By the end you're rooting so much for these guys. I don't want to tell you too much about it except that they were influential in the 80's metal scene. But they're now in their 60's have families, crap jobs, yet still producing cds. I don't even like metal music, and I found myself enthralled instantly. At the end of the movie a special surprise we did have! The band was there, at this screening! They got up on the stage and although they admitted they were stoned out of their minds, answered questions. Dedication! Must see it!

Point Break Live!

Although I'm in the midst of dealing with "should I be angry with the only so called friends I've got", I still went to see Point Break Live with them. This is the first live stage show I've seen in ages. Apparently this started in New York, and then they brought it to Hollywood. Basically it's a live stage version of the horrendous surfer cop movie Point Break! Starring Partick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. What makes this so special is that, if you've seen the movie, you know all the amazing one liners from the terrible script. You know the action scenes, you know about Reeves and his non existing acting skills. So true to the movie, the live show plays on these faults for hilarious comedic scenes! First, casting a person from the audience to play Mr. Reeves. Basically this person reads from cue cards, which creates the perfect Mr. Reeves effect. No skills. They also shoot you with water, blood, seamen, and other such disgusting stuff, (provide you with ponchos) so that you really get into the action. They even do the parachuting scene! It was definitely creative to say the least. I laughed a lot. The actor who played Roach and the guy who played Pappas(i think) were the best. They just went for outrageous instead of trying to imitate precisely how they did in the movies like the rest of the cast. They took the little things and exaggerated them for maximum affect. If you have a chance to see this, see it!

Wolverine and the Action Movie Genre

One or two notes about the xmen movies. Okay...if I were to put in order of best to worst I'd have to go with this order:
X2(#2), X-men(#1), X-men Origins: Wolverine(#4), and then at the very bottom X-men: The Last Stand (#3)
Frankly X-men: The Last Stand was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. But more about the recent release X-men Origins: Wolverine. You know I was expecting to be a terrible movie, and granted it was pretty bad. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. I mean yeah the script sucked, the story was lame, and how stupid they make wolverine out to be is quite shocking. I mean really you didn't realize that? I kept wanting to shout at Hugh Jackman's rippling chest. But it could have been worse. I think the major problems I had with the movie, is that all the action is kind of redundant. I've seen Wolverine slicing up people before, hard to make it exciting anymore. The guy with the guns Zero, and even Wade the dude with the swords who turns out to be Deadpool at the end, each had stunts that were quite reminiscent of The Matrix, and Equilibrium. Big deal...I kept thinking. I don't know much about Gambit, but I wasn't thrilled with his shenanigans either. Why were his cards electrified, instead of flaming? I remember watching X-men and even X2 and being wowed. This was just meh...I mean no offense to the mutants powers haha, but really move on to different mutants already. Basically the move was a sad attempt at squeezing money out of a beloved storyline and name. Sort of like Watchmen.

Examples of movies that are the firsts (actionwise) and why we love them:
300...the other movie by the guy that did Watchmen: We've never seen a good action movie with a proper roman phalanx being used. Seeing how it actually works was quite exciting for an audience who's never seen it.
The Matrix: yes yes, it revolutionized action movies as we know them...blah blah
Equilibrium: the under estimated cult flick that came out the same year as the Matrix, again challenged action movies as we know them.
Harry Potter...first of all, the books duh, we're invested in the characters. But a wand battle? What other movie has a wand battle like the one between voldemort and dumbledore?

I mean maybe there are better examples, but you see what I'm getting at. And there are many more "firsts" especially from the 70s and 80s..but now and all to often, action movies aren't unique anymore. It's really hard to do it. And more and more movies are crossing into the ridiculous completely unbelievable stunts trying desperately to get that wow-factor. Most of these make absolutely no sense, and you end up feeling embarrassed for the people behind the scenes who designed it, they are so just stupid.