Man of Steel movie review.

I always get annoyed when people bash Bryan Singer for the “horrible and disappointing” Superman Returns, but let me ask. Was it honestly disappointing? Bash Singer if you want, but that movie was as good as it gets, by which I mean it’s almost impossible to make a good Superman movie, or good TV show (looking at you, Smallville). Only Richard Donner’s 1978 film accomplished this task, but not because of the main character. Simply put, I think Superman is a boring character. As a pop culture icon, he’s an undying symbol of hope in the darkest times, but as an actual character, he’s incredibly bland. There’s little to him, though everyone else sees something in him that I don’t understand.

When Warner Brothers announced Man of Steel, a reboot to Superman similar to Batman Begins, I was hoping it would be a rich, character driven experience. That was, until I found out it would be directed by Zack Snyder. Even though it had The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s good will as producer, I’ve made no secret of my hatred for Snyder as a director (specifically for the terrible Sucker Punch and Watchmen). In stark contrast to the hype built around this movie, I thought this was going to CRASH. AND. BURN!

The final verdict... it’s better than I thought it’d be, and it’s Zack Snyder’s best film to date, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. To be fair, it is enjoyable, but still VERY flawed.

Epic movie review.

Figured I’d get this review out of the way before the man in the red cape takes away my attention.

Animation normally takes a favorable lean towards Disney and Pixar, but one company that has also made a name for itself is Blue Sky. Though they’ve yet to make a truly incredible film, they’ve had their share of modest hits, mainly their full fledged comedies like Ice Age and Rio. Here, they take a decidedly more serious turn with Epic, an adaptation of the tale “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs” by William Joyce.

Joyce, a respected children’s author, is a fascinating individual, in that the worlds he can create from pure imagination are a spectacle on their own level. Epic is no less visually stunning than you would expect, but perhaps the filmmakers should have gotten an equally imaginative story to go along with this world.

Arrested Development Season 4 TV review.

Often considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time, Arrested Development is this guy’s favorite show ever. With its razor sharp writing, excellent ensemble cast, wonderful editing and back stories, and especially the flawless build up of the jokes, the show about the riches to rags Bluth family rightfully earned its title as one of the best written shows ever made. Every time you go back and revisit one of the older episodes, you begin noticing new jokes you missed, probably because you were too busy laughing at another joke. That’s how hilarious it is.

Ever since the third season’s finale, we’d long been hoping to see a movie teased to us by Ron Howard at the show’s very end.  For years, we buzzed around like impatient bees, stuffed our faces with mayoneggs, and continually got tired by everyone’s “illusions”, feeling as if we’d never see that movie. However, with the devoted fanbase growing, a long awaited fourth season was FINALLY put into production, thanks to Netflix. When news broke out, you bet that I was hyped for it. So, were we in store to get that same lightning in a bottle once more, or was our hype all for naught?

Star Trek: Into Darkness movie review.

Anybody who regularly tunes into Fox, ABC, or NBC will immediately be familiar with J.J. Abrams. The spearhead of hit shows such as Alias, LOST, and Fringe has also made his fair share of entertaining films such as Super 8, and 2009’s reboot of Star Trek, a thrilling, funny, and intelligently written and acted experience that never gets old. So, for what I assume was his “audition tape” for his upcoming continuation of the Star Wars saga, we all got excited to finally see its sequel, Star Trek: Into Darkness. One of the charms of the original Abrams film is that it hit the right chords with die hard Trekkies, but had enough of a broad scope to also win new fans, but does the sequel hit that same mark?

Well, yes, but not with as much success.

The Great Gatsby movie review.

Baz Luhrmann: Artistic visionary or artificial hack? Those are the only choices, ‘ol sport.

The Australian director, best known for films such as Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!, leaves anyone watching his films polarized. He’s a stylish director specializing in lavish sets and costumes (both designed by his wife, Catherine Martin), frenetic editing, eclectic soundtracks, and comical vibes eventually forming into full on drama, all of which either enchant, or disgust his audiences. Everyone was both skeptical and curious when his next project was announced to be The Great Gatsby, a book I’m sure we all read skimmed across in high school. A book as famous and as hard to film as Gatsby is probably not the best bet for Luhrmann to make, but with the talent that he got on board for this movie, and the studio’s clever marketing, people definitely stopped to take notice, the film beckoning their attention like a flashing green light.

The Croods movie review.

Dreamworks Animation, much like many studios, suffers their ups and downs. Whether that’s with incredible heights like How to Train Your Dragon, or tired rehashes like Madagascar 3, they fluctuate quite often. Personally, I tend to prefer the side of themselves that take the material seriously, like with How to Train Your Dragon and Rise of the Guardians. Their latest effort, The Croods, had me incredibly hopeful that it would be another really good film from them, being directed by Chris Sanders of Dragon and Lilo & Stitch fame. What I got, instead, is the side of Dreamworks that I usually have a tough time sitting through. Does that make it a bad movie, though? Well, no, but it still isn’t as good as it should be.

Iron Man 3 movie review.

Guys, I’m about to drop a bombshell. Don’t hate me too much when I say...

I DON’T LIKE SHANE BLACK! I think he’s just a weak movie maker. His early screenwriting credits (the first Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout) failed to impress me, and even his directorial debut, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, is a mediocre movie, an interesting idea with inconsistent executions. So when I heard he was replacing Jon Favreau as director of Iron Man 3, I said “That’s it! I’m done with Marvel. They have clearly given up.” So when I finally saw the movie... It was actually better than I thought. Gasp! Shane Black made a GOOD movie? Yes, and while Iron Man 3 isn’t as good as installment one, it is a grand improvement over Iron Man 2.