Concerning Hobbits, Part Two

Some of Tolkien's work has been an inspiration for my writing, but that's a given to any fantasy literature, I think.  The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are the bibles of fantasy literature and all writers of this brand can trace their roots back to Tolkien.

Directly, hobbits can claim an inspiration with Morgalla with one and only one thing:  Their height.  Morgalla is short, standing only five feet high (and that's not counting the horns).

Life in Hell was rather...interesting at times.  Often she would be underestimated.

Concerning Hobbits, Part One

The Hobbit was a good movie but I'm still depressed they've turned it into three.  That fact is really the only thing that I'm annoyed with seeing that I went and saw a $5 film.

I think the decision was Warner Brothers and not Peter Jackson.  Movie companies have been known to do this sort of thing to make more money.  Case in point:  Deathly Hallows, Breaking Dawn, etc.

This being the first of three films, it's really padded and it didn't need to be as long as it was.

That being said, I enjoyed the film very much and it was great that Peter Jackson returned to middle-Earth.  The prologue is brilliant on an epic scale.

Thinking back to the 1977 animated film, it really is amazing how loyal that made-for-TV movie was not only loyal to the source material but also brilliantly animated...for TV, that is.

But I thought the goblins and trolls of 1977 were much better done than this version. 

Jackson's goblins and trolls were more like comedy relief if anything else.  Yes they were a tad menacing, but only because of either size or numbers.

 

 

The Dwarves in Jackon's film are WAY better, though.  In 1977 they all looked a like and reminded me more of Disney's Seven Dwarves.

 

But still...

 

At least with Jackson, it looked like multiple artists worked on different characters.  If I didn't know any better, I would say that ONE artist designed ONE dwarf.

 

Good again to see many characters from Lord of the Rings, both Gollum and Saruman.  Even the characters I'm not a fan of like Elrond and Galadriel.

 

Still a damn good movie, though, I cannot wait until they next two.  As for DVD, I think I'll wait for all three to be out, I'm sure they'll have some sort of special package.

 

It was awesome to revisit Middle-Earth, once again.

The Strength of Ian McKellan

So I'm seeing "The Hobbit" tomorrow though I'm annoyed in the fact that they've split it into three movies.  I think the decision came from New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson had little to nothing to do with it.  I want to see all three films, but they'll be matinees and not 3D.

That being said, I'm impressed by Ian McKellan.  I hope only for his health as he has been battling prostate cancer for seven years now.  In that time he not only fought the disease but filmed all three movies. 

My hat is off to him.

The Cover of Book Two

Colored again by the amazing Rex Lokus, thanks for all the amazing work you've done with my drawings.

Called it!

Yup.  Alice Eve is playing Carol Marcus in Star Trek II.

Alice Eve

So the trailer to Star Trek, Into Darkness is out and there's a lot of people going nuts over it.  I'm excited to, but we'll have to wait and see how it turns out. 

I DO like the look of both films, very modern in a retro kind of way, at least most of it.  I hope they fix a couple of minor details from the first.  The Enterprise Engineering for example looked like something from modern-day, nothing at all futuristic.  And the rest of the ship was too "bright" and had too much cgi in it.  But that's just me...

Now there's speculation as to just WHO Alice Eve is playing in the movie, since IMDB has no character name listed.  She was clearly wearing a blue uniform, speculating that she's a medical or science officer, so maybe she's Nurse Chapel.

BUT...

What if she's Carol Marcus?  The love interest from Star Trek II?  She was certainly the most interesting of all of Kirk's love interests, most of whom only lasted one episode.  Her character was underused and we barely only scratched the surface as to what the story of her and Kirk was.  Obviously they were in love, had a child and had an argument as to where that child should be raised.  It could have been a really interesting story and maybe the filmmakers of this new series felt the same.  To see the love story of James and Carol...

Then again she might be someone new.  I guess we'll wait and see.

Morgalla Inspiration: Klingons

I was a much bigger Star Trek fan in the past, especially growing up.  I was introduced to it by the Wrath of Kahn but I knew of the show and many elements of it.  I knew what the Enterprise looked like, I knew the Vulcan salute but there was something called "Klingons" which I found the name to be rather silly.

I went to a couple of conventions but never wore a costume or anything like that.  I didn't.  I swear, I never did!

Anyway...

As the movies and Next Generation moved on, the Klingons were "fleshed out", so to speak.  We found out more about them and even though they were also an advanced society technologically, many elements about them were still seemingly "primitive" to some, but I prefer the term "traditional".

Enough quotes.

The Klingon look appears rather barbarian-like.  It's like all of them wear metal and leather.  Klingons and demons are both violent and for them it's completely normal.  Demons take it to the next degree.  To them, violence is a normal way of life, the term "murder" is an alien term to them.  Klingons hit each other and to them it's no big deal.  Sure, this might seem normal to someone raised in that environment, but every family has its black sheep. 

Enter Morgalla.

I think Klingons were best during the Search for Spock and the Undiscovered Country.  At best, the Klingons are allies against common enemies like the Borg or the Dominion.  At worst, their conquerors who want to rule because they think they're superior.  That's when they were more interesting. 

 

Gene Roddenberry wanted the Klingons to be our friends when the Next Generation came along.  BIG MISTAKE.  The best I think we could hope for with the Klingons is a live-and-let-live attitude where they respect us for our strength but don't like us.  Humans merely tolerate the fact that they enjoy pain and don't bathe.

 

The demonic race of Hell would be more complex than just a warrior race that wants to kill with their own sort of hierarchy.  But it is their warrior nature, their superior attitude, their traditional look, these elements helped shape what demons in Morgalla's world would be like.  

A Warm Smile by Rex Lokus

Another brilliant work by Rex Lokus, doing a better job than I could ever hope to.

Failtroll

Thanks to:

http://in-the-zone.deviantart.com

...for introducing me to the word "failtroll".

A Warm Smile

4 BILLION Dollars

George Lucas has sold Lucasfilm for 4 BILLION dollars.  This isn't news to all those in geek circles for the 'net is all a buzz with activity about it.

Go ahead, George.  Take the money and run, it's your right and you've earned it.  I find it ironic, though.  Here in the 70's you were fighting against the big companies in Hollywood, trying to get your movies made.  You hated doing business with them because you thought they were more business and no art.  In the span of just a few months, you became that which you hated to do business with.  Lucasfilm grew into a beast of a company, an "empire" if you will.  Now you took 4 billion from the empire of the mouse. 

Curious.

Oh and I'll say this:  Odds are Disney is going to do better with the Star Wars sequels than you EVER did with the prequels.  So I guess this is good news.  Shocking, but still has a silver lining.

FIGHT

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Morgalla Inspiration: Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat

"Hey, whoa!  He just ripped that guy's head off!"

Mortal Kombat was unique in many ways, number one being its violence.  

One thing that impressed me was the fact that it had a strong story, all be it kinda simplistic:  Bad guy wants to rule the world and good guys have to stop him.  Another cool element was the fact that each character had a story and a reason to be in the tournament.  Where Street Fighter came before, this game took it to new levels with the action and the fact that they were using actors for the characters.

Mortal Kombat II was even cooler.  Not only were the graphics and animation better but the fight went into "outworld".  It took the already cool story and made it even cooler.

When it came to Part III, again there were many great elements.  They took it up a notch where we were back on Earth, but it was invaded by the armies of the evil Shao Kahn.  In all three parts there were mystical and magical elements but in part III they added science fiction hardcore with the cyborg characters.

The movies sucked.  Don't get me started.

Morgalla's story is indeed violent but I tried to downplay any gore and death.  That's where MK and I differ.  I was inspired though about the story of invaders from another dimension.  In some cases they're not human, in fact alien-like beings.  Do they have spaceships?  Do they have high-tech weapons?  Nope.  Don't need em.

Now years before there was a cartoon that had a great deal of potential but ended up being way too campy and childish.  When it came to Masters of the Universe, there were a lot of great characters and a bunch of great concepts that didn't live up to its potential.

 

Both of these stories had both fantasy and sci-fi elements within it.  Interesting to see both magic and science come together in one story but these two made it work.

Star Wars did it a little, too.

But still...

Mortal Kombat was the bigger influence, especially since it took place in modern times.  He-Man had a lot of potential and even though there was a reboot in recent years, I think we still have yet to see it live up to its potential.  MK, too.

Maybe the Rock would e interested in playing He Man.  I mean, who else could do it?

The Flaws of Sam Flynn

Sam Flynn is a bit of a tool.  There, I said it.

The bar was raised when it came to Tron:  Legacy.  Primarily because the trailer came out OVER a year before the movie came out.  That's one of the reasons The Phantom Menace and the Matrix Sequels failed; the hype around them was just SO big.

But one of the reasons why I myself didn't love Tron: Legacy was the main protagonist, Sam Flynn.

We meet him riding a motorcycle super fast and evading the police.  I will say this, at least he's wearing a freaking helmet.  One cliche' of some movie "bad boys" is that they ride a motorcycle and are too cool to wear protective headgear:  See Star Trek (2009), Top Gun and that piece-of-crap movie Taylor Lautner did in recent years.

He breaks into ENCOM, his father's company and commits more crimes.  We find out that he's a primary share holder of stock with the company and that the software made by ENCOM was SUPPOSED to be free.  But if you're a major shareholder, surely you can just WALK IN and not need to sneak in.  He already has pull in the company and all this sneaking around and hacking is pointless.

Just seems pointless to me, it would have made more sense if maybe ENCOM was taken from him somehow though legal means.  Here he's just a rich kid acting out because he's mad.  If you want your dad's company to start acting differently, why not take a role in it?  You have shares, you have power, you have the opportunity to make the changes you want.

Now I'm not an expert in business, but I know that his philosophy of giving stuff away just doesn't work.  See Sam, there are people at ENCOM who make things to sell, they're call software designers.  There are people who answer phones, work security, clean the place up, executives to make sure the place functions.  All these people don't work for free, they have bills to pay and need to work.  If he gave everything away for free, the company would fold in a week and bye bye to your money.  Trust me, his tune would change in a heartbeat.

But another thing that aggravates is here we have this young man preaching this and who released this movie?  DISNEY.  As big of a fan I am of Disney's products, they're the king of over-charging for everything they make.  And here they release a movie that says "giving stuff away is cool!"

But still...

After Sam finds his dad and they escape the bad guys, they hitch a ride.  During which, Sam brings his dad up to speed as to what's been going on in the world.  According to Sam, the world is a terrible place.  Let's not mention the fact that we won the cold war.  Nah.

But among all the terrible things going on, he mentions:

"Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer."

This, from the young man with a trust fund.  You're one of those rich people, pal.  You know, if you feel guilty about having all that money, I'm sure there are people who would love to take it from you.

And at the end, he puts Alan Bradley in charge of ENCOM, like he has the power to snap his fingers and do so.  A question I have:  IF it was that easy to just fix the problems with ENCOM, why didn't you do that in the first place?

Over all, many people didn't like Tron: Legacy for many reasons.  This was mine.  That, and the plot was way more complex than it needed to be.  Don't know why.  They needed to keep it simple and they didn't.

Sam is supposed to be a hero of some sort and rule one if you have a hero in your story:  

You have to LIKE THEM.

Rex Lokus and the Strong Stance

Another brilliant coloring job by Rex Lokus.

http://rexlokus.deviantart.com

Review: Dark Knight Returns

The animated version of Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" is one of the best that Warner Brothers Animation has produced.  It's writing is exceedingly loyal to the source material and yet doesn't get TOO bloody.  Where Miller's style was new and rough, the animation here remains similar to his work and yet sharpens it.  Here it feels more solid.

I love Robin's parents.  Though you never see them, their hippie attitude amuses me.

I love how Gordon KNOWS that he's Batman.  Hell, he IS a cop and supposed to be a detective so he should find out sooner or later.  Since he realized that Gotham needed Batman, he kept the secret.

The voice talent is brilliant as usual with Peter Weller at the helm.  He has a grizzled darkness that seems to come through naturally.  That's where some actors get Batman wrong:  Some, while trying to sound "dark", can actually sound more like they're growling.

Now some can be angry with the fact that they split it into two films but I have to agree with WB Animation in this regard.  To do a good job with this film and have it condensed down into one, they would have to leave out a lot.

Hands down, one of the best Batman stories ever.

A Strong Stance

The Girl With a Hood

Tough to draw a girl wearing a hood when she has horns.

New Cop in Town

The online film reviewer Confused Matthew brought up a very good point in his review of King Kong.  I'm paraphrasing here:  Why does Hollywood insist on remaking GOOD movies?

Hmmm....you know what?  That IS a damn good point.  Why DOES Hollywood do that?  I mean you're automatically raising the bar!  If you're going to remake anything, why not redo a film that had potential but sucked?  Remake Green Lantern, for example.

The new photos of the Robocop remake are out:

 

It's not "bad" but it's very "tron-ish", it reminds me of Rinzler.  Don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing, for one of the only redeeming qualities of Tron: Legacy was its look.

 

But seeing as if the over all look of Robocop has become very iconic I think straying away from the look of the character too much might be a mistake.  On the other hand, maybe that's what the director wanted to do:  Break away from the Paul Verhoeven classic.

 

But still...

 

I'm glad that the director didn't go 100% cgi.  A lesser director would have done a cgi character.  That comment was geared more towards guys like Martin Campbell and his atrocious Green Lantern.

 

But still...

 

The cars look cool, too:

 



It looks like its part tank.  Sweet.

Again, this movie might suck, it might be cool but I'm trying to keep an optimistic outlook on it.  We'll see when it comes out next year.

Oh and in regards to this pic:

 

Busted, dude.  You are TOTALLY taking a picture of Abbie Cornish's ass.

The Mentalist is a Jerk

So I gave "The Mentalist" five minutes and I loathed it. 

The episode started with a murder of a young woman whose body was found in the trunk of a car at some kind of auto show.  As the team arrives and starts examining the scene, "the mentalist" arrives, looks inside the car and says "Mmmm, new car smell."

Okay, there is a DEAD PERSON there just a couple of feet from you and THAT'S what you notice first?  THAT'S what you say?  This man is an ass!

Changed the channel...

Makraka



What I Liked About the Prequels

Among the nerds and geeks of the world, there is one word that's like nails on a chalkboard: 

Prequels.

Star Wars, Episodes I, II and III are loathed by many.  They've been reviewed and ripped into for years now.  RedLetterMedia for one made the absolute beginning and end of what the issues are with the prequels and I agree with everything the said about them.  But with all the crap that's been said about George Lucas and his "work"...I thought I'd try to keep things positive.

Though they are barely watchable, there were some elements of the prequels that I actually enjoyed:

 - Ian McDiarmid -

Palpatine had two faces:  the one he showed to the public, and his real face.  One good thing about the plot was how Palpatine used both the Republic and the Separatists against one another.  He was a true puppet master and it didn't matter who won the Clone Wars...he was going to win everything.

Ian McDiarmid looks like he's having fun with the dual role despite that he has some weak dialog.  The elaborate costumes and sets (when he's not in front of a blue screen) and I think he came back to reprise the role out of loyalty to the franchise and fans.  I have to admire him for that.

 - Liam Neeson -

I can understand why both he and Ewan McGreggor wanted to be part of these films, really I do.  Liam is one of those actors who can take a weak script and weak dialog and make it work.  Even when his co-star is one of the most infamous of sucktastic characters.  I was expecting a cameo from him in episodes two and three, alas it was not to be.  I wonder if it was planned and he said no so maybe the idea was dropped.  Can't say I blame him.

But the character of Qui Gon Jinn was cool and Neeson played it well as usual.  When Alec Guiness described the Jedi Knights of the Old Republic I had many ideas of what they would be like.  Neeson nailed it, not just how they looked but more importantly the way they acted. 

 - Ewan McGreggor -

Considering the material given to him, I think McGreggor did a great job.  Not only did he have to read the horrible dialog but he had to pay homage to the character made famous by Alec Guiness.  Of all the performances of all three films, he gives the best.  They barely scratched the surface with this character and it was a shame that he didn't have more to do in episode one.  Another flaw:  they made all three films about Anakin.

 - The duels -

Everyone loved them.  It was the one thing that even the people who hated the films loved.  They were cool but more importantly, I respected the actors like Ewan, Liam, Ray Park and even Hayden Christensten for learning the choreography.  Sure there were stuntmen, sure there was cgi, but there was a lot of performing by the actors to make them entertaining.  I also liked how they were shot, hardly any zoom-ins at all, almost as if we were watching this performed on a stage.

One element in episode one that was awesome was the fact that we saw Sith and Jedi at their peak of power and skill.  With the original trilogy we saw one on one dueling but here we got the bar raised.  Not only that but the Darth Maul double lightsaber was a neat and different design.  I would have loved to have seen a Jedi with the same kind of saber.

Then there was the battle of Jango Fett and Obi Wan which is really one of the ONLY things worth watching in episode two.  It was neat to see someone other than a Sith fight a Jedi, showing that they're skilled warriors but not indestructible.

 

 - Darth Maul -

He became the poster boy for episode one and immediately all the fans loved him.  He was just so COOL looking.  Where Qui Gon live up to what a Jedi looked and acted like...Maul was what we all had in mind for a Sith Lord and beyond.

Everyone speculated that he was going to be for the prequels what Vader was to the original trilogy.  When I first saw the Phantom Menace, many let out a sound of disapproval when the character was cut in half.  The coolest-looking character in the movie and they pulled a Boba Fett; we should have seen it coming.

 - The Trailer -

Star Wars was back.  That which so many had loved as a kid was coming back!  The trailer was brilliant and gave just enough to make us all excited for it.  All George Lucas needed was "Star Wars: May 19th"...that's it.  He needed nothing else, but he gave us a little more.  You saw a young Obi Wan, lightsabers, droids and aliens.

Part of the reason I feel that episode one in particular was a let down was the fact that there was all the hype behind it.  For that, Lucas cannot be blamed.  All he did was show a trailer and have some promos, it was US that raised our expectations.  Sure, he DOES have to share in some of the blame in regards to having Jar Jar in the movie (we're never going to forgive you, bro).

But in those months that we waited, there was the hope that Star Wars, the most awesome trilogy of movies ever to exist (up until that time) was coming BACK!  We were going to know the full story of Anakin Skywalker, the rise of the Emperor and how a once peaceful republic turned into a brutal dictatorship.

We were blissfully ignorant...

Kid Kaos's Morgalla

Drawn by the amazing Kid Kaos:

 

http://thekidkaos.deviantart.com

 

R.I.P. Michael Clarke Duncan

Morgalla Inspiration: Gangs of New York

While watching "Gangs of New York", a couple of things ran through my mind:

1) My GOD I can only imagine how terrible the  place and the people smelled and

2) This is Hell.

The realm of Hell, the place where Morgalla reluctantly called home was rather vague, a place more like Mordor if anything else (which I'll get to at a later post).  Ruled over by the demon lords, the oldest and most powerful of demons.  If you were fortunate enough to survive to old age (centuries old) in demon society, you were strong enough to enslave others and bend them to your will.  The older a demon is, the stronger they become.

In the 1860's, New York was filled with what the screenplay referred to as "tribes".  Normally they fight amongst each other but at times they can be united for a common cause.  If Scorsese's 1860's New York is my version of Hell, then Bill the Butcher is a demon lord.

The Five Points is very much a Darwinian, kill-kill-or-be-killed existence.  Someone dies?  No big deal, it was his/her fault for not being strong enough.  Sure, the Five Points have some good people who want to help their neighbors and family, a trait that is lacking in Morgalla's Hell.

But you have to wonder what happens to people even of moral character in an environment such as this.  Even a person of great character would be forced to kill, to defend themselves.

I explore this...

Man Out of Time

The Avengers DVD comes out in less than a month and I hope it's more of an extended version like Watchmen did instead of just having deleted scenes. 

One scene is brilliant but I can see why it was deleted.  Maybe they'll include it in the Captain America sequel, who knows.

Another thing I noticed that everyone that Cap knew during the war was dead except for Peggy.  Perhaps they're preparing that as a small sub plot of the Cap sequel.

After the events of the Avengers film, surely Peggy now knows that Steve is still alive though not necessarily well.  He has some healing to do, that's for sure.

I think Peggy WILL be making an appearance in Captain America, the Winter Soldier.

R.I.P Neil Armstrong

You sir, were truly an American hero.  Such courage is such a rare thing in any generation.  You will go down in history as one of the greatest our country has ever seen.

Morgalla's Muscles

I've heard for years the big deal that people make a big stink about Morgalla and how "buff" she is.  There have been jokes at her expense for sure but that doesn't matter, she is who she is.

I used logic to determine as to how she should be built.  First and foremost, she is a strong person who grew up in difficult surroundings and who constantly had to work and fight on a daily basis for her survival.  She is NOT going to be built like a freaking barbie doll.  Hence why She Ra was one of her "anti inspirations".

Someone who practices daily, pushing their body to the extreme, will look something like a professional athlete.  And since Morgalla is short, I always pictured her more like a gymnast if anything.  Amazing how very few other artists have ever captured how I pictured her.

Now take characters like Wonder Woman or She Hulk, it's only in recent years that artists are showing any guts in drawing them with any kind of athletic appeal.  Characters like Superman, Hulk and many others are drawn like bodybuilders.  If a woman is supposed to be equally as strong as her male counterpart, how come she doesn't look it in any way?

Let the critics be damned, if I made her like everyone else then she wouldn't stand out.

Morgalla Inspiration: Darkness

Since I mentioned "Legend" in my guilty pleasures, I might as well mention the villain Darkness and how he inspired "The Trilogy of Morgalla".  First of all, the shape of his horns are much like Morgalla and the villainous demon lord Zorach the Unholy.  In fact, Zorach was originally supposed to look more like Darkness at first but now he looks quite different.

I envisioned Hell as looking much like the lair of Darkness, thanks to Ridley Scott and the other makers of the film.  Granted, over the years things have grown into their own identity and my version of Hell looks quite different.

Now when it comes to Darkness, it sounds like Tim Curry is having a great time playing the role even though he must have spent countless hours in the make up chair.  He is to be commended. It's one of the greatest make-up jobs in motion picture history, that and the actor's performance really bring the character to life.

What makes the character interesting and not just a plain old "I-have-an-evil-plan" villain is the way Tim Curry plays the role. At one point he's calm, collected and even gentlemanly with a voice as smooth as velvet.  The next he's a raging machine of fury, yelling "SIT!" or trying to kill Tom Cruise.

Though Zorach is quite different in appearance and in the way he acts, both the movie "Legend" and the character Darkness were both a big influence as to my writing.

My Guilty Pleasures

Everyone has them.  That movie or possibly a TV show that you just know is flawed (or even down-right bad) but for some reason we love them so...or at least like enough to enjoy watching.  Or maybe you just blush when you admit out loud that you like a certain movie.  Seeing as if so many people are listing their guilty pleasures, I thought I'd join in on the fad:

10) The Dark Crystal

I saw this one in the theater and even then the muppets seemed a little fake at times, especially the main Gelfling characters Jen and Kira.  But we didn't care, we appreciated the imagination, from Brian Froud especially.  One can easily see the flaws of the film, not just the muppets but the dialog at times, too.  It remains a special film in many people's hearts, including my own.  It also remains a unique film, having an all-muppet cast.  Gotta appreciate the vision of Jim Henson and Frank Oz.

 9) Neverending Story

A cult flick that's on a lot of people's favs list for fantasy.  It's very strange and where there were many directors/producers/film companies would go sci/fi, it was neat to see some fantasy.

Bastian could be  little annoying, even IF he were the same generation.  He seemed to know it all, or at least think he did. 

I can also appreciate the film for going WAY out there and the fact that they had to come up with something original, but come on...a flying dog and you call it a dragon?  I think an actual DRAGON would have been cooler.

 8) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

This is the favorite of many. One can excuse the poor special effects for it was 1971. But who really makes the show of course is Gene Wilder's performance. I always thought that Roald Dahl hated children and this movie (although it doesn't go 100% off of the book) and Wilder expresses that anger towards the annoyances children sometimes show.

Of COURSE I have to mention Julie Dawn Cole's performance as Veruca Salt. You love to hate her.

 7) Dune

This movie is weird, even for fans of the Frank Herbert books.  Coming out in 1984, the special effects suffer for the fact that it's not made by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.  When you have both Star Trek and Star Wars to be compared to, you have to put your own stamp on science fiction in film and I can see that's where David Lynch was going.

But it's still WEIRD and at times very gross.  Even people who like science fiction didn't quite "get it" at times.  Even I didn't get all the internal thoughts.  I know why they're there, but they can get annoying.  Not to mention the fact that the movie is almost beginning to end SERIOUS.

BUT in its defense, it has Patrick Stewart which is awesome.

 6) Transformers:  The Movie

Being a die-hard Transformers fan back in the day of COURSE this is going to be on my list of movies that I like.  However, back then my brother and I (another die-hard fan) saw the flaws even when were children. 

It pissed us off to no end that they killed off Optimus Prime, an event that truly was the "Old Yeller" of our generation.  Both him and plenty others.  One thing hat the film makers admitted to is the fact they didn't expect the fans to actually LIKE characters.  They thought that we just wanted new toys.  Not true.

Part of me still likes many elements of this film.  The animation unlike anything else in American motion picture history.  It takes Transformers to a new level, despite it being obnoxious at times.  Even back then my brother and I were upset that more of our favorite transformers were not used.  Yes, new is cool and all but hey we LIKED the guys in the show and would have liked to have seen more of them.

 5) Total Recall

What makes this a guilty pleasure is the fact that it's so freaking over-the-top.  It starts off as a great film and you're really not too sure where it's going to go or what's happening.  People are trying to kill "Ah-nold" and you don't know why.  Doesn't matter, he just kills them first.

Just when you think that Paul Verhoeven is making a futuristic mystery he goes into his shoot-em-up, everyone-will-die mode.  The third act of the movie is just a splatterfest...but DANG is it fun to watch.

I might add also add that when this movie is on basic cable, naturally the language is edited.  But I find it ironic that all the blood splatters are still there.  Hmmmm...

So let me get this straight basic cable channels:  Blood splatters, gunshots and watching people DIE is okay, but naughty language is bad?

 4) Clash of the Titans

I saw this movie in the theater, one of the first.  At times it's over-acted and it's a by-the-numbers adventure story where the helpless princess is saved by the dashing hero.  This is what I find aggravating, but it's still enjoyable for the mythical, mortal-conquers-impossible-odds kind of deal.  If this wasn't based on mythology, I wouldn't like it.  The remake was weak in the story department, would have been better had they just gone off of the original story.

Besides the adventure, Burgess Meredeth is cool as the wise, Obi Wan-like mentor.  Lawrence Olivier and Maggie Smith are also brilliant as Gods.  It would have been cooler if we saw more of the Gods in the newer version (which are in deleted scenes).  Like the Gods play games, we're the chess pieces and they have rules to play by.  None of them are "good" or "evil"...but they're all dicks.

 3) Legend

Tom Cruise got some crap for this movie but you have to look at this way:  Your ONLY hit is Risky Business and the director of Alien and Blade Runner comes up to you and wants you to be in his next movie.  You say YES.

The look of the film is brilliant but what do you expect from Ridley Scott?  Would be cool if he were able to do something else like this.

The movie can be very strange and much like Dune, it wasn't exactly understood even by fans of fantasy.  The dwarfs can be a tad annoying and the acting over-the-top but it has some good action.  Another thing that everyone found weird was the Gump, just some kid running around basically in his underwear made it seem...strange.

But the greatest element was Tim Curry as Darkness.  It looked like that he had a great time playing the role even though he spent what had to be countless hours in the make-up chair.  The look of the villain is awesome and rivals that of guys like Darth Vader and to this day many still love it.

 2) Sin City

I heard one reviewer call this "Film Noir on steroids" and it lives up to it.  It's a great use of green screen technology to make the film resemble its source material.  Had it not come from the graphic novel, I don't think a lot of people would have understood it.  Zach Snyder's 300 owes this movie.  Had it not been for Sin City, 300 would have not have been made.

But many people criticize it for it being way over the top and the internal monologues got annoying.  I can see where they're coming from and this movie is open to a lot of parody.  But you gotta love the dialog at times, the special effects and the use of classic cars.

In Sin City, sometimes it's tough to see who the good guys are and sometimes they pay the ultimate price for their heroism.

 1) Flash Gordon

If Sin City was film noir on steroids, this is camp on steroids.  The special effects aren't great, but remember please what I said about Dune.  Movies based on comics were very rare in this time and many of us didn't know who Flash Gordon was, only that he was some kind of hero and it was sci/fi.

What makes this movie work are all the people involved.  The actors take it seriously enough but still have a good time and act as if they're playing a game of some sort.  Amazing how the performances are just a TAD over-the-top...but not to much that you're rolling your eyes.  And it isn't just the hero, not just he villain, but all the actors.

Oh, and do I have to mention that sound track?  I mean, COME ON!